Senior Congress leader Narayan Rane demanded a whitepaper on the Make in India Week event from the state government, claiming that investment figures revealed by the government were false. On the ongoing Jawaharlal Nehru University controversy, Mr Rane also defended his party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who was targeted by RSS and BJP workers.
“The government should release a whitepaper on the MoUs signed during the Make in India Week. The information should be in the public domain. The tall claims made about investment of Rs 8 lakh crore are completely false. The state did not even bother to check availability of land, water, power before inviting companies,” Mr Rane, who was also the industries minister in the Congress-NCP regime, claimed.
According to the Centre, the manufacturing summit secured investment commitments worth Rs 15.2 lakh crore, with host state, Maharashtra, alone accounting for Rs 8 lakh crore. “After splurging a huge amount of money, the Fadnavis government signed deals with companies that have already turned bankrupt. The government has claimed to have signed investment deals worth Rs 8 lakh crore. It’s all farce. The government has inked deals with companies whose balance-sheets look dubious and the MoUs are not going to materialise,” he said. The former minister even mocked at the claim, saying that the convergence rate of the MoUs would be zero per cent in the state.
“During my tenure as the industries minister, at least one fourth of the MoUs actually came into realisation, but the BJP government will have zero per cent convergence rate. They only make impossible claims, which are not to be fulfilled,” he added.
On the JNU row, Mr Rane warned RSS workers not to teach the Congress and Mr Gandhi about patriotism. “Where were the RSS workers during the independence movement The entire atmosphere in the country has been vitiated. BJP MPs and leaders, instead of maintaining calm, have polarised the political debate into ‘patriots vs traitors’. The fact is that Rahul Gandhi’s family members have shed their blood for the unity and integrity of the country and made sacrifices,” he said.
