Congress built Maharashtra brick by brick, state economy in decline under current govt: Chidambaram
Mumbai: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said on Saturday that his party built Maharashtra brick by brick to make it India's top state but its economy is now declining under the current Mahayuti government. Addressing a news conference ahead of the November 20 assembly polls, he said Maharashtra was leading in the country in industry and services and was among the top-ranking states in agriculture. He said the state was and still is the commercial capital of India. “But I don't know for how long it will remain the commercial capital of India,” he said. In the last eight to ten years, the Congress was not in power, barring the two-and-a-half year of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) rule, he said, adding that the government is now being helmed by BJP and its allies. Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) are partners in the MVA, while BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena are constituents of the ruling coalition.
“The decline (in the state's economy) is visible under the BJP government,” said the Congress leader. “Maharashtra was built brick by brick to be the number one state of India by the Congress,” Chidambaram added. Referring to 2022-23 and 2023-24, Chidambaram said Maharashtra's GDP growth has declined from 9.4 per cent to 7.6 per cent. The fiscal deficit increased from Rs 67,000 crore to Rs 1,12,000 crore, the former Union finance minister said. The state's agriculture growth plunged from 4.5 per cent to 1.9 per cent, while the growth in the services sector fell from 13 per cent to 8.3 per cent, he said, claiming that capital expenditure has remained stagnant at Rs 85,000 crore. “This decline has to be arrested. It can't be arrested by those who caused the decline,” said the senior Congress leader.
There are no jobs in Maharashtra, which is why there are other social evils. Unemployment is the biggest problem in the state, but the present government has no answer to it, he said. He said industries wooed by the state had signed MoUs or letters promising investment and their locations (to set up units) had also been identified, but it didn't materialise. “Those industries have gone to, you know where,” Chidambaram said, alluding to Gujarat.
He said the unemployment rate among Maharashtra's youth is 10.8 per cent and about 47 per cent of them are self-employed. The figure for those who receive salaries every month has come down from 40 per cent to 31 per cent, Chidambaram claimed. He said 11 lakh people applied for 18,300 posts for constables and drivers in Maharashtra and Mumbai police, adding that 11.5 lakh youth applied for 4,600 talati (revenue official) posts.
