Gopinath Munde demands dismissal of Mah govt

Mumbai, June 23: Former Maharashtra Deputy Chief MInister Gopinath Munde urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to dismiss the Congress led state government if he was really concerned about the future of Mumbai.

In a statement issued here last night, Mr Munde referred to the Prime Minister's comments about freeing Mumbai from the clutches of land mafia and said Dr Singh should have first taken information about how much acres of land reserved for public utilities had been cleared by the state government for the benefit of builders in the last five years.

Mr Munde demanded a white paper of land meant for public utilities which has been de-reserved by the state government in the last five years.

He also opposed the proposal of the Prime Minister to set up a Unified Metropolitan transport authority for Mumbai, alleging it was a move to make Mumbai independent from Maharashtra.

''There is no such separate authority for cities like Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore,'' he said, adding that a proposal for a separate machinery for Mumbai shows that there are plans to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra.

Mr Munde said the Prime Minister had earlier made announcements for Centre's assistance in development of Mumbai. ''What has happened so far.... nothing. The Government regularises all illegal constructions in Ulhasnagar ,then why not apply the same rule in Kalyan-Dombivali. Congress is indulging in double standards in asking for votes in Kalyan-Dombivali,but regularising constructions in Ulhasnagar'', he added.

Kalyan-Dombivali is BJP's traditional bastion and the party would maintain it, he said.

UNI