Just a few days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee of 'diverting' businesses from Maharashtra to West Bengal, Shiv Sena questioned state BJP's silence over Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel's Mumbai visit and his meeting with the business leaders and leading industry executives here.
"Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel visited Mumbai along with half of his cabinet. He came to invite the industrialists in Mumbai to participate at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit slated in 2022. They need the help of Mumbai industrialists to make a 'self-reliant (Atmanirbhar) Gujarat'. Why is the BJP silent now?" Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut asked in the weekly column ‘’Rokthok’’ in the party’s mouthpiece Saamana.
“Those who are shouting and attacking should realise that Mamata Banerjee did not take anything with her when she left. What's wrong with coming to Mumbai and meeting industrialists?”
He also reminded the BJP of the visit of former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath to Mumbai.
“There is no problem if the Gujarat CM comes here and invites investors. But BJP’s criticism against Mamata was unwarranted. When Adityanath came to the city to take away the Bollywood to his state, BJP remained silent,'' said Raut.
He lashed out at BJP saying that the party chose not to speak when the proposed international finance centre in Mumbai was shifted to Gujarat overnight. "BJP did not comment on this loot," he added.
Raut recalled the speech delivered by the former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel who had told the investors and industrialists to think beyond Mumbai and invest in Gujarat.
Patel had stirred a controversy after she referred to Mumbai's infamous traffic and said, "I have been told it takes you a couple of hours to go from one place to another. That frightens me. Gujarat has a better quality of life for industrialists."
Raut said that BJP's stand on Mamata Banerjee is extreme. "She came here and created a storm,” said Raut.
