Mumbai: BJP is eyeing BMC’s fixed deposits, says Uddhav Thackeray

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said that the Bharatiya Janata Party had eyes on the money that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has kept in fixed deposits. He made the comment while speaking at party founder Balasaheb Thackeray's birth anniversary on Monday.

The former chief minister said, "What Prime Minister Narendra Modi said about Mumbai is dangerous. He said the money kept in the bank does not do any development. Do you know how that money has accumulated? It's public money. We brought the BMC budget in surplus. The money is for employees' pension, contractors' security deposits that needs to be returned. It is with this public money that the BMC is constructing a toll-free coastal road, whereas people will have to pay [toll] on roads that the government is constructing. Will you let these people take control of the BMC?"

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"Mumbai is the hen that lays golden eggs. The people in power want to cut the hen. We will blacken the faces of the people who have a bad intent. They take industries away from here, They also want to take the money away from here, because it is here and it will be here," he said, adding that the PM had laid foundation to the projects the Sena has worked on.

Thackeray also took potshots at Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the BJP. He said that even the US president, if raided by the FBI, could be asked to join the BJP to come out clean and have a peaceful life. About skipping the unveiling of an oil painting of his father Balasaheb Thackeray in the Central Hall of the State Legislature, he said he had not seen the painter's work. "I don't disrespect the artist but I'm not sure whether he was given ample time to work. These people have hijacked every personality that has contributed to the nation, but they should bear in mind that in Maharashtra they can get votes only in the name of Balsaheb. If they have guts, they should seek votes for Modi and remove my father's photo. Their intent is bad. It is an attempt to hijack the legacy," he added.