Aaditya alleges ₹74.41-cr scam in painting of metro pillars, targets Shinde

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Monday accused the state’s urban development department of perpetrating a ₹74.41-crore scam pertaining to the painting of metro railway pillars in Mumbai. The department, which comes under chief minister Eknath Shinde, sanctioned painting work for metro corridors 2A and 7 even though construction work was still pending so that contractors could benefit from it, Thackeray alleged at a press conference on the last day of campaigning for the assembly polls.

“When we build a house, do we paint it before completing construction work? This government does not have money to pay BEST employees and farmers but is spending crores of rupees for the benefit of contractors. This is a scam,” Thackeray said, warning that the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) would launch an inquiry once it came to power after the polls.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which comes under the urban development department, is building several metro corridors across the city. Thackeray said they have copies of correspondence initiated by MMRDA in December 2022 regarding the painting of pillars for metro corridors 2A and 7, which show the work was sanctioned although construction work was still underway.

“We have documents which show that despite objections raised by some officials, the urban development department sanctioned ₹74.41 crore for painting pillars of metro 2A and 7 even before completion of civil work. This was done so that they could approve repainting after the completion of civil work and the laying of girders. The urban development department under chief minister Eknath Shinde is responsible for this scam,” he said.

Metro 2A, also known as the yellow line, connects Dahisar East with DN Nagar in Andheri while Metro 7, also known as the red line, connects Dahisar East with Andheri East. Both lines were inaugurated by prime minister Narendra Modi in January 2023.

While addressing the press conference, Thackeray also referred to a statement by BJP leader Pankaja Munde, who said that around 90,000 party workers from Gujarat were working for the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra for the upcoming elections.

“Why do they need 90,000 people from Gujarat to work in Maharashtra? It’s now clear that if Mahayuti wins the elections, it will be a victory for Gujarat and if MVA wins the elections, it will be Maharashtra’s victory,” Thackeray said.

He also alleged that ruling party leaders were spreading rumours in Magathane that the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Udesh Patekar had declared support for the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena candidate Prakash Surve. “Udesh Patekar has filed a complaint regarding the rumour and the election commission should take action on it,” Thackeray said.