Shiv Sena asks BJP to remove babus who hinder development

Uddhav Thackeray

The Shiv Sena today asked the BJP to "fearlessly" remove those bureaucrats from the Maharashtra secretariat who delayed the implementation of projects and hindered development. The Sena also said when it pulled up the government for not implementing its schemes, the anger behind the criticism had to be understood. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party has often been at loggerheads with senior ally BJP and has been vocal in criticising the Central and Maharashtra governments.

The Sena's comments came a day after senior BJP leader and Union minister Nitin Gadkari slammed the state bureaucracy, particularly IAS officers, for a "negative mindset" which impeded development. Gadkari spoke on this yesterday at an event in Nagpur, in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule. The Sena said during the previous BJP-Shiv Sena rule in the state, such hurdles in the way of development were "fearlessly removed" from the 'Mantralaya' (the state secretariat).

"It is easy to allege that development is not happening due to such hurdles. However, weeding out such hurdles fearlessly and taking the development further is the sign of a strong administrator," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'. The party, an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra, added that the anger over the non-implementation of schemes had to be understood.

Innumerable announcements made by the present government in the last three-and-a-half years had not been implemented and only remained on paper, it claimed. "The state's treasury is unstable while the debt is increasing by the day. Where does one get the money for development," the Sena asked. It claimed that Fadnavis had to struggle to get an amount of Rs 89 crore cleared for setting up the Nagpur Police Bhavan, and this showed the pace of development in the state. Nagpur is the hometown of the chief minister.

"The question plaguing the people is that if the chief minister himself has to struggle so much to get a mere Rs 89 crore sanctioned for a project, what will happen to the demands of people's representatives and the common man," the Sena asked.

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