'If BJP government is serious...': Aaditya Thackeray's request to Fadnavis
What's the story
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to keep former CM Eknath Shinde and two other ex-ministers out of the new cabinet. This comes after Shinde, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, and Deepak Kesarkar were accused of a ₹12,000 crore road scam. Thackeray demanded an official probe into the alleged scam linked to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's 400km road concretization project.
Project controversy
Thackeray's warning and allegations on Mumbai project
Earlier, Thackeray had raised alarm that this road project could cause widespread flooding in Mumbai. He had also accused that contracts for the project were given at inflated prices. Although the BMC has refuted these accusations, the matter remains a sore point. "If the BJP government really wants to take action on the road scam, they will have to keep...Shinde and... Lodha and Kesarkar out of the cabinet," Thackeray said.
Scam investigation
Thackeray's appeal for transparency and official inquiry
Reiterating his call for transparency, Thackeray has demanded an official inquiry into the alleged road scam. He said, "This was Mumbai's hard-earned money. Wasted. For contractors and politicians to fill their pockets." The Shiv Sena leader also noted that the BJP speaking out on shoddy road work and demanding an SIT probe only proves his point further.
Ministerial appointments
Cabinet expansion
The Maharashtra cabinet was expanded on Sunday with the induction of 39 ministers in Nagpur. The expansion comes after the Mahayuti alliance's decisive victory in the state assembly elections, where they won 230 out of 288 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 132 seats, Shiv Sena 57, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) 41.