Mumbai, Mar 19: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray on Thursday said India should have backed Iran when it was attacked by the US and Israel but there was no protest from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this, which “will definitely hurt us in future”.
Addressing his party’s annual Gudi Padwa rally, Thackeray said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis claims he wants to make Maharashtra’s economy a USD 3 trillion one but the state has debt of Rs 11 lakh crore.
When Prithviraj Chavan was chief minister (from 2010 to 2014), the state’s loan was Rs 2 lakh crore, which has now increased to Rs 11 lakh crore, Thackeray claimed.
The MNS president also launched a website for people to give their suggestions to take Maharashtra forward.
Tangible ideas will be forwarded to experts and after vetting will be shared with the government, he said.
Thackeray expressed hope that his party, which completes 20 years, will come to power and regain the glory of Maharashtra.
On the ongoing shortage of cooking gas amid the West Asia crisis, Thackeray said Iran had been backing India for so many years.
“We should have backed Iran. Iran gave oil to India in rupee currency. (But) Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) did not issue any statement after (Ayatollah) Khamenei’s killing. There was no statement of protest or attack,” Thackeray said.
He said Iran backed India even on the issue of Jammu Kashmir at the global level but New Delhi did not back Tehran when it was in trouble.
“This will definitely hurt us in future,” the MNS president claimed.
Thackeray said people are stuck watching IPL, movies, television and scrolling Instagram.
World over, governments want people to get hooked to these so that they don’t ask questions, he asserted.
Cities have crumbled, Thackeray said while informing that he had Chief Minister Fadnavis and the Deputy CM and raised the issue of traffic congestion.
“We are losing everything. Buildings are being constructed by giving abrupt permissions,” Thackeray alleged.
He said Maharashtra has announced farm loan waiver thrice but the state records the highest number of farmer suicides.
The ‘Marathi manoos’ praises the Coastal Road but it is has been made to welcome outsiders and throw ‘Marathi manoos’ out, Thackeray claimed.
Cities are losing land, he said, adding industrialists like Adani are taking it and the government is assisting them.
“We are losing our identity as Maharashtra, language. We will not get it back once we lose it,” he added.
Thackeray said drugs is being sold across Maharashtra, and youth are getting addicted in schools, colleges etc. He also spoke about the issue of children missing in the state.
