Uddhav Thackeray slams PM Modi for ‘centralising power’, demonetisation
He also said the Sena would not shy away from “exposing” the BJP-led Maharashtra government, if it failed to implement the loan waiver scheme in the state properly.
Mumbai, Jul 23: In yet another scathing attack Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused him of 'centralising' power.
Thackeray, whose party is a constituent of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and in Maharashtra, said reforms are a must, "but one should pause" to review their impact.
In an interview to Sena mouthpiece 'Saamna', he said that going by government advertisements, one would get a feeling that everything was hunky-dory, but one should check the ground reality.
Talking about the GST which was rolled out on July 1st and the Sena's reservations on it, he said, "Should we centralise or decentralise? Rajiv Gandhi had introduced autonomy through the Panchayati Raj when he was the prime minister. Narendra Modi has taken away the autonomy and is on a centralisation spree."
Thackeray
said
if
governance
depends
"only
on
the
will
of
whoever
is
the
prime
minister",
then
does
India
really
have
a
democracy?
"Do
people's
views
have
any
value?
Reforms
are
a
must,
but
one
should
also
pause
from
time-to-time
and
review
their
impact,"
he
said.
"I read somewhere that 15 lakh people lost their jobs in the four months after demonetisation. It means 60 lakh families were affected. It happened only due to the notes ban (demonetisation). What happened to those who lost their jobs is the government's responsibility," he added.
Referring to the Centre's initiatives aimed at job creation such as 'Start-up India' and 'Make-in-India', Thackeray wondered how did one reconcile them with demonetisation and its effects.
He
also
said
the
Sena
would
not
shy
away
from
"exposing"
the
BJP-led
Maharashtra
government,
if
it
failed
to
implement
the
loan
waiver
scheme
in
the
state
properly.
Claiming
that
the
Sena
was
the
first
to
raise
the
issue
of
farm
loan
waiver
when
Sharad
Pawar
was
the
Union
agriculture
minister,
Thackeray
said,
"Maharashtra
was
at
the
top
in
farmer
suicides
and
unfortunately,
it
is
still
there.
This
was
not
an
area
where
we
should
have
been
at
the
top."
He
said
he
had
asked
Sena
workers
to
beat
drums
outside
banks
and
make
them
display
the
list
of
beneficiaries
of
farm
loan
waiver.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had, on June 24, announced a loan waiver to the tune of Rs 34,022 crore following a statewide agitation by farmers.
On July 9, Fadnavis had said the entire debt of around 36 lakh farmers in the state would be waived.
Thackeray said, "The state had said the entire loan of 36 lakh farmers would be waived, while 89 lakh farmers would benefit from the scheme. I want to see their names."
Reminding the state government of its proposal to give Rs 10,000 to every farmer till the loan waiver scheme was worked for buying seeds and fertilisers, he claimed that only around 2,500 people had received the payments, even though more than a month had passed since the announcement was made.
Thackeray claimed that no bank had so far received clear instructions about how to grant waiver.
PTI