HITTING OUT at Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra for criticising the newly formed state government led by Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadanavis over losing the Vedanta-Foxconn plant to Gujarat, Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the opposition parties ‘shedding crocodile tears’ now were the same political parties, who created hurdles for at least five mega projects in the state during their tenure in power. “Who were the people who stopped the bullet train project in Maharashtra; who were the people who stopped a Rs 65,000 crore Wadhvan project in Palghar district; who stopped the Nanar refinery project and who created hurdles for the Metro car shed project.,” Sitharaman asked on Day 1 of her three-day tour of Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. “Were these projects not beneficial for Maharashtra? Were all these projects benefitting Gujarat? When you were in power, you stopped not one or two projects, but created hurdles for five projects. Now you are shedding crocodile tears in the name of Maharashtra’s interest and for sake of doing politics,” she said. Responding to a possible tussle with NCP in Baramati to end the stronghold of Pawar family, she said, “I am here only to strengthen BJP and not to think about any one family.”
