Samriddhi Highway would’ve been completed earlier if part of bridge hadn’t collapsed: Uddhav Thackeray

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 11 (ANI): Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday accused the Maharashtra government of using cars of the Nirbhaya Squad for its ministers.
While addressing a press conference, the former Maharashtra CM said, “What can one understand, if the cars belonging to the Nirbhaya Squad are being used by ministers of the Shinde faction.”
He also claimed that Samriddhi Highway would have been completed earlier if part of a bridge hadn’t collapsed.
“The inauguration of the Samriddhi Highway was supposed to have taken place on May 1, but I was informed that a part of the bridge has collapsed. Now, I don’t know whether it fell by itself or it was deliberately broken,” he said.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief also accused the Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde of reading BJP’s “script” on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border issue.
“The CM is reading BJP’s script on the border issue,” he said.
He even criticised PM Modi for sharing the stage with Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
“PM is sharing the stage with the Governor who insulted legends,” he said.
It is pertinent to note that the Maharashtra Governor on November 19 stoked a controversy when he called the Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj an ‘old idol’.
An emotive and iconic figure in Maharashtra, transcending political affiliations, the Governor’s remark on the Maratha warrior did not go down well with leaders. The statement sparked a massive furore and drew censure from Maratha organisations and opposition leaders alike.
Meanwhile, after the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute escalated, many untoward incidents took place in Belagavi, after which as a precautionary measure, police presence was tightened along the border, in Belagavi’s Chikkodi.
Belagavi is currently part of Karnataka but is claimed by Maharashtra. As per media reports, the long-running Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute started in 1953, after the Maharashtra government objected to the inclusion of 865 villages, including Belagavi, in Karnataka.
The villages are spread across Belagavi and Karnataka’s northwestern and north-eastern regions – all bordering Maharashtra.
After the implementation of the State Reorganization Act, of 1956, the Maharashtra government demanded the readjustment of its border with Karnataka. Following this, a four-member committee was formed by both states.
Maharashtra government had expressed willingness to transfer 260 predominantly Kannada-speaking 260 villages, but it was turned down by Karnataka.
Now, both Karnataka and Maharashtra governments have approached the Supreme Court to expedite the matter, and the matter is still pending. (ANI)