Devendra Fadnavis and Sharad Pawar
– Photo: ANI
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Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday accused NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar of lying. Fadnavis said that there is no truth in Pawar's claims related to Tata and PM Narendra Modi. Attacking Sharad Pawar, he said that it is not appropriate to lie at his age. It was because of the attitude of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government that the projects went out of Maharashtra. During this, Fadnavis warned people to beware of those trying to create fake stories.
Earlier, while addressing a rally, Sharad Pawar had said that the Final Assembly Line (FAL) of Tata Advanced Systems and Airbus was earlier to be set up in Maharashtra, but on the orders of PM Modi, the project was shifted to Gujarat. Terming Pawar's claim as a lie, Deputy CM Fadnavis said that before strengthening the fake story, the people of Maharashtra should be told the facts once again.
Deputy CM Fadvis posted on X and said, 'No one should lie at this age. In the era of Jairam Ramesh and Sharad Pawar, when Gujarat and Karnataka used to be number 1 in attracting investment and today when Maharashtra has become number 1, they (Pawar and Ramesh) are a little more worried.
'Ratan Tata wanted this project to start in Maharashtra…'
Sharad Pawar was addressing an election rally in Baramati assembly constituency. During this, he said, 'Ratan Tata wanted this project to be started in Maharashtra and after discussions with him, a plot of 500 acres in Nagpur MIDC area was identified for it. This entire conversation happened during the government led by Manmohan Singh, of which I was a part.
Asked to open a factory in Gujarat
He further said, 'Our government changed and when Modi became the Prime Minister, he called Tata and asked them to open a factory in Gujarat. If that project had been implemented, thousands of jobs would have been created in Maharashtra.
Project shifted due to negligence of previous MVA government: Fadnavis
Rejecting Pawar's claim, Fadnavis said that the reason behind setting up the project in Gujarat was the negligence of the previous government. He shared newspapers and video links explaining how Tata Airbus, Foxconn and other projects were forced to move out of Maharashtra. Fadnavis claimed that the then MVA government failed to respond appropriately when Tata Group representatives visited the MADC office in Nagpur.
Maharashtra still a major destination for investment
Fadnavis said that Maharashtra is still a major destination for investment and 52% of the total foreign investment has come here. The controversy has sparked a war of words between Fadnavis and Pawar, with Fadnavis urging people to beware of false claims.
