A few days after the Centre gave nod to coastal road in Mumbai, a tug of war has erupted between Shiv Sena and BJP for taking credit for it.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis received praise for his efforts to push the project before the Centre and get it the necessary approvals. But it has not got down well with Shiv Sena, which is the ruling party in the BMC. The local body is the implementation authority for the coastal road. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray convened a meeting of the BMC officials, the mayor and the corporators on Friday and instructed them to work speedily on the project.
In the meeting, Uddhav instructed the officials and the party members to speed up the coastal road project. “Uddhavji questioned when the project will actually start and if there are any hurdles to complete the project. His main concern was that the project should be completed in time and not get stuck due to technicalities. It was one of our main points in poll agenda and we will fulfil our promise,” a Sena minister said.
Defending the meeting, Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande said that it was the party’s poll promise. “Uddhavji has a lot of ideas about how to provide facilities to citizens of Mumbai. He was keen about the coastal road project since the beginning and it was included in our poll promise also. We are just fulfilling our promises. There is no issue of taking credit or stealing somebody else’s ideas,” Ms Kayande said.
However, BJP functionaries have a different version of the story to share.
“The chief minister had announced the decision to complete the project. It is in the public interest and hence, the CM was keen to carry on with it. He took the initiative and pursued it at the Centre. Shiv Sena is our ally and can hold a meeting about the project. But the people know who deserves credit for the coastal road project,” BJP Mumbai secretary Vivekanand Gupta said.
The project was actually initiated by former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. The decision was taken to cut down the exorbitant cost of sea link projects.
