Centre’s favouritism to Gujarat behind aircraft facility in Vadodara: MVA

MVA alleges that the Vadodara defence aircraft plant is part of the many projects that had been shifted to Gujarat from Maharashtra  

On the day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez inaugurated an aircraft manufacturing facility in Vaodara, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) slammed the Union government for “depriving Maharashtra of its development” by shifting big-ticket projects to Gujarat.

Criticising the project, the Opposition leaders in Maharashtra questioned the intention behind the project’s location, alleging favouritism towards Gujarat and the ruling Mahayuti government’s inability to land new projects in Maharashtra.

“This exact same project was to be set up in Nagpur, but was shifted to Gujarat in 2022 on the eve of the Assembly election there. One can only imagine the machinations that went on behind the scenes to ensure that Maharashtra lost out on this key investment. This is not an exception. Under the non-biological PM’s leadership and instruction, the Union government and the Mahayuti government have conspired to ensure the wholesale surrender of Maharashtra’s interests in landing new projects or seeking Central support,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

The post by Mr. Ramesh also mentions a list of projects that were allegedly planned in Maharashtra but were later shifted to Gujarat. These include the International Financial Service Centre (IFSC), now at GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City); Diamond export market, Vedanta-Foxconn chip factory, and the Tata-Airbus facility that was inaugurated on Monday (October 28, 2024).

Speaking to The Hindu, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant said, “The honourable Prime Minister is narrow minded. He is not representing India, he is representing Gujarat. He is more interested in the development of Gujarat than any other part of the country. To snatch the projects of the Maharashtra is totally unjustified and injustice towards the Maharashtra. Millions of jobs are lost in the State.”

“If a company knows feasibility is higher in Maharashtra, why are they moving to Gujarat?” said Nationalist Congress Party (SP) spokesperson Clyde Castro. “That means there is some malice and ulterior motive behind all this.”

Maharashtra State Congress president Nana Patole alleged ineffective governance by the Mahayuti government. “The leadership of [Chief Minister] Eknath Shinde, and [Deputy CMs] Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar is ineffective, which is why major projects are being shifted to Gujarat,” he said. Both Mr. Sawant and Mr. Castro said that they would raise the issue in the Parliament in the coming Winter Session.

Published - October 28, 2024 10:31 pm IST