Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on September 11 alleged that the upcoming special session of the Parliament was designed to split Maharashtra and separate Mumbai from the State and declare it as a Union Territory.
“Mumbai is pride of not just Maharashtra, but the entire country. The agenda of the upcoming special session of Parliament is planned to split Maharashtra and take industries from Mumbai to Gujarat,” claimed Mr. Patole, speaking in Gondia district.
The Congressman, however, did not elaborate the basis of his claims.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi never called for a special session of the Parliament on any major crisis till now, be it the COVID-19 pandemic, or demonetisation or the Manipur turmoil. This special session is convened as per the whims of the government. I say that the ruling BJP will declare Mumbai as a union territory during this session and separate it from the rest of Maharashtra,” alleged Mr. Patole, speaking to reporters.
The Centre has not spelt out the agenda of the special session to be held from September 18 to 22.
Stating that Mumbai was an international city and the country’s financial capital, Mr. Patole said that the city’s powerhouses like Air India, the International Financial Services Centre, and the diamond market among others were being shifted out and that a plan was afoot to shift the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange to Gujarat.
‘Major obstacle’
The Congress leader further claimed that the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government (comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), the NCP and the Congress) had been toppled by the BJP-ruled Centre as it had been a major obstacle to such anti-State decisions.
Mr. Patole, along with other leaders of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), accused the BJP of steadily trying to reduce Maharashtra’s importance in the past few years while never hesitating to point out that after the Eknath Shinde government came to power by splitting the Shiv Sena, big projects such as Vedanta-Foxconn, the bulk Drug Park, Tata Airbus, among others, had moved out of Maharashtra.
The opposition MVA has long accused the BJP of “plotting” to devalue the industrial importance of Maharashtra in general and Mumbai in particular.
In March this year, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had refuted reports that the BJP-led Centre was planning to shift the office of the Textile Commissioner from Mumbai to Delhi.
