The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies will sweep all 10 seats they are contesting in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said, while thanking Mumbaikars for the patience they have shown through the ongoing infrastructure works in the city.
Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday, Mr. Fadnavis said the election results would be a reflection of the development works — including some big-ticket projects — that his government has managed to pull off past in the five years in the financial capital. Mumbai will only gain from this sustainable development and the inconvenience caused from the ongoing works in the long run, he said.
“We are confident of sweeping the six seats in Mumbai and the rest in the MMR on the basis of our performance of the past five years,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
Denying the charges of activists that the State government has ignored environmental concerns, the Chief Minister said an extensive tree plantation drive undertaken in the past five years will take care of the carbon footprint of developmental works, as nearly two crore trees have been planted in the region.
“I am nowhere saying that displacement and loss of green cover is not an issue, but the city has only to gain from the sustainable development in the long run. I want to thank the people of Mumbai for showing immense patience despite the inconvenience caused. Some of the other cities in the State, where we initiated several works simultaneously, went into a complaint mode,” he said without naming the cities.
Mr. Fadnavis said his government has managed to roll out permissions for some of the big-ticket projects, including the Metro and Monorail, the Trans Harbour Link, coastal road and the proposed bullet train project. The two major Metro works, Line 7 and Line 2-A, would be completed by 2023.
“The International Financial Centre planned in Mumbai will also bring a global stature to the city. We have done what the previous governments could not do in 15 years here,” he said.
