Summary:
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray dared the Opposition to pull down his government and said that he was at the helm of the three-party Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state.
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Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray dared the Opposition to pull down his government and said that he was at the helm of the three-party Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state.
In the last of the Shiv Sena chief’s two-part interview, which appeared in the party mouthpiece Saamana on Sunday, Thackeray said the fate of his government was not in the hands of the Opposition.
“Some people get pleasure in constructive work, while some are happy with destructive work.
They should go ahead and topple the government, I do not care,” he said.
Thackeray also called for an e-bhoomipujan of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya on August 5 to avoid crowding at the actual site.
“Instead of putting so many lives in danger [owing to Covid-19], the laying of the foundation stone could be done online,” Thackeray said.
Speaking about the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, which has been a bone of contention between the state and Central government, the chief minister said that he would prefer to have the train running between Mumbai and Nagpur as it would be a “more beneficial route, but the decision would be made on the basis of people’s mandate”.
“My individual opinion or that of my party [on bullet train] could be different, but as a state, the government will take its decision at an appropriate time.
The government decision will be based on the people’s mandate about the project and after discussing it with all stakeholders.
If the people are against it, I will scrap the project,” he said.
About the Opposition’s criticism that his government is a “three-wheeled vehicle”, Thackeray said his government represents poor people.