'Mumbai will be pothole-free in a year': Eknath Shinde

Denying a rift with CM Devendra Fadnavis, the Maharashtra deputy CM and Shiv Sena mukhya neta talks about development, protests and other pressing concernsA network of concrete roads will free the country’s financial capital Mumbai of potholes in a year, claimed deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. Recalling that he sanctioned the Rs 6,500 crore, two-phase road concretisation project of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in 2022, when he was CM, Shinde said no more than 50 km of roads were being concretised earlier. “Work on around 70 per cent of these roads has been completed, and the remaining 30 per cent will be done in a year If you go there a year later, you will not find any potholes,” he asserted.Shinde also dismissed speculation about a growing rift with CM Devendra Fadnavis. “When I was chief minister, he was the deputy chief minister. Today, he is chief minister and I am the deputy chief minister. We work as a team. Our agenda is development and the progress of Maharashtra,” he said, adding that decision-making in the government was a collective process.“A review of the four years I and Devendraji (Fadnavis) have been chief ministers will show that we have managed to help farmers more than anything done in the preceding 60 years,” claimed Shinde. Pointing out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who “has always supported farmers”, started giving Rs 6,000 annually to farmers under the Kisan Samman Yojana, he recalled adding another Rs 6,000 for farmers in Maharashtra when he was CM.According to Shinde, the Mahayuti’s landslide victory in the 2024 assembly election had settled the debate over which of the two parties—his Shiv Sena or the rival Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)—could lay claim to being the ‘real’ Shiv Sena. Reacting to protests by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and by civil service aspirants against paper leaks in competitive examinations in the state, Shinde admitted that people had a right to protest but also alleged that political parties were using these platforms. “Politics has infiltrated this. It must not happen,” he said. Pointing to alleged scams involving the Commonwealth Games, and the allocation of coal mines and 2G spectrum, during the regime of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), he said the Opposition had been unable to accuse PM Modi of corruption. “Democracy has not given you the right to defame anyone,” he warned.“The youth are the future of the country,” said Shinde, adding that Maharashtra continued to lead the country in startups, FDI, GDP, infrastructure and industries. Recalling the late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray’s call to youngsters to turn into “job givers from job seekers”, the deputy CM said the state government had launched skill development programmes for youngsters to ensure they got work.The state government is also focusing on developing infrastructure. The Navi Mumbai international airport is being connected to Mumbai via a Metro railway. A third Mumbai (Mumbai 3.0) is being developed in the region, while Mumbai 4.0 will come up around the greenfield Vadhavan port in Palghar, along with an airport, logistics park and industries, which will generate employment.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends