NITI Aayog proposal is a conspiracy to separate Mumbai from Maha, says MVA

Mumbai: A controversy has erupted over the NITI Aayog proposal to prepare a plan for the economic development of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), with the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) taking an aggressive stand against it. Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday called it an attempt to end the federal structure of the country and a conspiracy to control Mumbai from Delhi with the ultimate aim of separating Mumbai from Maharashtra. Thackeray also said the plan would be scrapped once the INDIA coalition came to power.

BVR Subramanyam, chief executive officer of NITI Aayog, held a meeting with chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar at Mantralaya on Tuesday. The central government think-tank has included MMR in the four cities selected for an economic masterplan for rapid economic growth in the next seven years.

NITI Aayog will present the blueprint of the masterplan in the next four months. Anticipating that 70 percent of the national GDP will come from cities by 2030, the think-tank has been focusing on 20 cities in India that have the potential to grow. It has set a target of $300 billion from MMR by 2030. The state government, on its part, has constituted a committee of senior officials to implement the plan.

Speaking at a press conference on the eve of the INDIA coalition’s Mumbai conclave, Thackeray slammed the move, calling it a Modi government conspiracy to control Mumbai on the heels of its passing a bill to control the administration in Delhi. “The Constitution has given the country a federal structure but the plan by Niti Ayog is to damage it,” he said.

Thackeray declared that it was now clear to people why the MVA government was toppled by the BJP. “When I was chief minister, the Centre did not dare to put forth a proposal allowing it to intervene in state matters,” he said. “Their plan is clearly to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra and make it a union territory.”

The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said that the BJP’s plans to control the states and cities started with the bill on Delhi. “Every state has similar rights, and apart from one or two things, the Centre can intervene,” he said. “But this central government is increasing its interference every day and encroaching on the autonomy of states. However, this is a matter of a few days—once the INDIA government comes to power at the Centre and the MVA government in the state, we will scrap all such decisions.”

The NCP and Congress too opposed the NITI Aayog plan, saying it was not in Maharashtra’s interest. “It is an attempt to reduce the importance of Mumbai and Maharashtra,” said NCP MLA Rohit Pawar. “After realising that it has not succeeded in reducing the economic importance of Mumbai, the BJP has introduced this idea to develop Mumbai through NITI Aayog. It seems to be a conspiracy to reduce the rights of the BMC in a phased manner and make Mumbai a union territory. The ruling party may have forgotten the Samayukta Maharashtra movement but the Marathi maanoos hasn’t.”

Atul Londhe, chief spokesperson of the Congress said that the Modi government’s aim was to reduce the rights of the state government as it did in Delhi, albeit in a different manner, and eventually separate Mumbai from Maharashtra. “The Congress will oppose this,” he said. “We will never let it happen.”