Shiv Sena workers lay projects’ foundation stones as act of revenge

Shiv Sena party workers laid the foundation stones of two bridges ahead of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ official programme on Sunday morning. On Saturday night, the CM had inaugurated a BMC-built swimming pool without inviting mayor Snehal Ambekar and other Sena leaders, to which Ms Ambekar strongly objected in a strongly worded letter to the chief minister.

The latest bone of contention between the Shiv Sena and the BJP was laying the foundation stones of proposed bridges — one across Ulhas creek at Motagaon-Mankoli and the other near Durgadi fort in Kalyan — that were to be set up to mitigate traffic congestion at Kalyan and Dombivali.

The bridge will be constructed by Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) and the CM was to officiate the bhoomipoojan on Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, the CM and BJP Mumbai city chief inaugurated a swimming pool and gymnasium in suburban Dahisar. Ms Ambekar, who was not invited, termed the CM’s programme unofficial and wrote a letter to the latter stating it was an insult to the Prime Minister’s idea of cooperative federalism. She said, “The pool and gymnasium are funded by the BMC and the then-mayor Sunil Prabhu had laid the foundation stone for the pool. The inauguration ceremony should have been conducted in an official way but you (Fadnavis), not keeping any place for any BMC official is an insult to Mumbai, its citizens and elected representatives,” she stated.

As revenge for the Dahisar event, Sena’s Dombivali chief Bhau Chaudhari and Kalyan chief Vishwanath Bhoir laid the foundation stones of the proposed bridges.

Meanwhile, the CM dismissed the Sena workers “atiutsaahi karyakarta (overexcited party workers).