Maharashtra got ‘April fool government’: Aaditya Thackeray

Mumbai:Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday slammed the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra calling it the “April Fool Government” for misleading the public on various promises, particularly those related to farmer loan waivers and the ‘Ladki Bahin’ (beloved sister) scheme. He also criticised the proposal to introduce a user fee for waste management services in Mumbai, calling it an “Adani tax”.

Referring to a recent statement by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar that the state government was not planning to announce any loan waiver for farmers, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said, “Every government has a name. There was a ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ government. Before that there was a ‘Yuti’ (Shiv Sena-BJP alliance) government. We call this government the ‘April Fool government’, because they have tried to mislead people by making many such false promises.”

Mr. Thackeray alleged that former chief minister Eknath Shinde had announced in election campaign rallies that there would be a loan waiver for farmers. “This government, which got elected courtesy to the election commission, continues to fool people of the state,” he said.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader further announced that his party will oppose the proposal to impose user fee on Mumbaikars and appealed to common people to join them. He alleged that the user fee is being imposed in order to clear the dumping ground at Deonar and hand it over to the Adani group.

The move to introduce SWM user fee was announced by Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani during the civic body’s budget presented in February. According to the proposed structure, residential units that have a built up area less than 50 square meters will be charged Rs 100 per month, units having an area between 50 square meters and 300 square meters will be charged Rs 500, while any residential unit above 500 square meters will have to pay Rs 1,000 every month.

Hotels and restaurants will be levied a monthly fee between Rs 1,500 and Rs 7,500 depending on their categorisation while clinics and dispensaries will be charged between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000 depending on their bed capacity. Commercial establishments like small shops will have to pay Rs 500, while banquets and public halls will have to pay charges between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,500 depending on their capacity. People can submit their objections or suggestions on the proposal till May 31 on the BMC website.

“When our party was ruling the BMC we had waived the property tax for upto 500 square feet house and this government wants to collect user fee for the benefit of Adani. The Adani Group has asked the government to clean the Deonar dumping ground site and then give it to the group. Now the dumping ground will be cleaned spending Rs 3,000 crore and that money will be collected from the common people,” Mr. Thackeray alleged.