Devendra Fadnavis : 'Bring my one lakh rupees'; Fadnavis's counter to Uddhav Thackeray's challenge

Against the backdrop of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections, the political atmosphere in the state has heated up, and the war of words between Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has intensified. Two days ago, in a joint meeting of the Thackeray brothers, Uddhav Thackeray openly challenged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Fadnavis has now directly responded to that challenge with a strong counterattack. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis elaborated on Uddhav Thackeray's allegations. “Except for the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, take out my speeches from any other municipal corporation meetings. I only talk about development in Mumbai. Ninety percent of my speeches are about development, and only ten percent are for responding. Take out my selected four speeches, give them to Uddhav Thackeray, and bring my one lakh rupees,” Fadnavis responded to Thackeray's challenge in these words.

Earlier, Uddhav Thackeray had criticized Fadnavis saying, “If Devendra Fadnavis and his party have ever given a speech without making it Hindu-Muslim, then show it. Even if it is a class monitor election, they have done the same. If such a speech is shown, we will all give them one lakh rupees.” Responding to this challenge, Fadnavis counter-questioned Uddhav Thackeray. “I had already challenged Uddhav Thackeray to show at least one speech on development and take one thousand rupees from me. They have not been able to do it till today. Now I give a challenge of seven thousand rupees, show one speech of Uddhav Thackeray on development and take seven thousand rupees,” Chief Minister Fadnavis retorted.

Meanwhile, Fadnavis elaborated on the credit for the Coastal Road. “The concept of the Coastal Road is old. Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had also said that it was his dream project. However, even when his government was in power at the center and the state, the project did not progress. After I became Chief Minister, the project actually started,” said Fadnavis. He mentioned that obtaining permissions for the Coastal Road was the biggest challenge, stating that the project was stalled due to environmental regulations. After many meetings over two years, approval was finally granted. “The Coastal Road will make 250 acres of open space available. There will be no real estate here; grounds and promenades will be created, and only after I gave a written affidavit was approval granted,” he clarified.

Fadnavis further stated that the project was completed after winning all legal battles. “Uddhav Thackeray performed the groundbreaking ceremony without holding any constitutional position. I did not want to get into a credit battle. They performed the groundbreaking ceremony, and we inaugurated the first, second, and final phases of the Coastal Road. Therefore, the credit they took is limited to presentation and groundbreaking,” Fadnavis made this scathing allegation.