Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hit out at the Opposition parties for allegedly cultivating close ties with the underworld and the builder mafia in Maharashtra. Without directly naming former Union Minister Praful Patel, who is currently facing the heat over the alleged real estate deals with gangster Iqbal Mirchi, Mr. Modi said that both the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) not only actively participated in a nexus of builder, politicians and the underworld that ruled the financial capital for many years but did not even allow progressive real estate regulatory mechanism to take shape.
“Even today, they are finding it hard to wipe off the stains from that shady nexus, the benefit of which flowed directly into their (Congress/NCP) pockets,” Mr Modi said in Raigad district.
Referring to the establishment of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) by the BJP government, Mr Modi said the “nexus” was ruling the real estate sector in the State before 2014 along with the underworld. But the BJP government brought in place the RERA and finished off the mafia.
“The mafia was earlier connected to politicians, and these are the same politicians who did not want RERA to be set up in Mumbai and surrounding regions. The regulation has improved the trust between buyers and consumers and opened up the sector for affordable housing,” he said, adding the Congress and the NCP only scuttled a regulatory mechanism for the real estate sector for their gains.
In an ongoing probe, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed that Millennium Developers, a firm run by Mr. Patel, transferred two floors in Mumbai's Ceejay House to Hazra Memon in 2007 "towards beneficial interest of Iqbal Mirchi in the land” on which it was built. Mr Patel has denied the charges, saying no money had exchanged or deal taken place between the Patel family and Hazra Memon.
Boost to coastal economy
The Prime Minister also referred to the ‘blue’ or the coastal economy of the Konkan region, which could be the driving engine of the Indian businesses. The State government was working on several projects to ensure coastal mobility and development of ports in the region. “This region will soon be the foundation of a new India. I promise to the people of Konkan, the future of the Indian economy is here. We are working through the Sagar Mala project, construction of roads, a coastal economic zone and RoRO ferry service here. We are also constructing new terminals and ports here, which will encourage commercial development and tourism. Blue economy with sustainable will be the benchmark of a new India,” he said.
The costal economy, Mr Modi said, would push the country to achieve the $5trillion economy target and attract future investments in the region.
Speaking at a public rally at Panvel, Mr Modi invoked King Chhatrapati Shivaji several times, comparing Shivaji's mandate of good governance to the BJP’s rule in the State and at the Centre past five years. “Both Narendra and Devendra have worked together to ensure good governance here in the State and at the Centre for the past five years,” he said.
