How Maharashtra is insulted when Missing Link is criticised: Raj to Fadnavis

Mumbai, Jul 9 (PTI) Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray on Thursday targeted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, asking how Maharashtra is insulted when the quality of work of an infrastructure project such as the Missing Link is questioned. Speaking at an event of the MNS Rail Sena, his party's railway union, Thackeray also asked how it is politics when people ask questions about infrastructure projects. "What were you (BJP) doing when others were in power? How is anyone insulting Maharashtra when they talk of the Missing Link? Castigating the government does not mean criticising Maharashtra....If you say anything against the Centre, then it is (dubbed as) anti-national," Thackeray said. It was the BJP which started targeting its opponents on online platforms, but now it is backfiring, he added. The newly constructed Missing Link section of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway was briefly shut down earlier this week following a landslide outside one of its tunnels. The BJP-led government came under fire over the incident. Replying to a discussion in the state assembly on Wednesday, Fadnavis accused the project's critics of spreading falsehoods on TV and social media through hired trolls, and warned that those defaming Maharashtra by spreading misinformation would not be spared. The MNS president, meanwhile, also claimed that contractors allege that they have to give 54 per cent commission when carrying out government projects. Thackeray also slammed the BJP over the alleged donation theft at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Asking questions about the theft is not an insult to the religion, he said, adding that of the 15 trustees, 12 had been appointed by the Centre and were linked to the RSS, VHP and BJP. What the BJP would have done had any other government been in power and the theft come to light, Thackeray asked. PTI PR KRK