BJP hatching plan to remove slums, relocate its residents to salt pan lands: Aaditya Thackeray
Mumbai, Mar 30: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday accused the BJP of hatching a plan to forcibly remove slums from Mumbai and relocate those living in them to salt pan lands.
Addressing a news conference, Thackeray latched on to the remarks of Union Minister Piyush Goyal, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat.
In an interaction with a media house, Goyal had said if elected, he intends to pursue a project that would entirely clear his constituency, which comprises northern suburbs like Malad, Kandivali and Borivli, of slums.
Goyal had welcomed the idea of salt pan lands in Mumbai to be redistributed for slum rehabilitation.
"This is a very dangerous scheme. Those who live in slums have their livelihood around that place. We will not allow them (BJP) to go ahead with their plan to relocate slums to saltpans," Thackeray said.
"The BJP's policy is not to eradicate poverty, but poor people," alleged Thackeray, who was a minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi regime.
He alleged the BJP's ploy is to give all the salt pans to its "friends" and referred to the Dharavi redevelopment project under which there is a proposal to settle some of the residents on salt pan land in north-eastern Mumbai.
Thackeray said it is people of Mumbai who will decide on relocation and not the Centre.
He said when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government sought salt pan land for the metro rail car shed project, the Centre denied permission.
However, the same salt pans are now being used to rehabilitate slum dwellers, he added.
Thackeray also accused the BJP-led Centre of demoralising Mumbai and taking away businesses from the metropolis to its "favourite states".
Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad the BJP's agenda is to relocate poor people on salt pan land.
When there is a policy to rehabilitate slum dwellers at the same location, then what is the need to relocate them on salt pan land, she asked.
Gaikwad alleged the BJP's ploy is to not eradicate poverty, but poor people.
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Duleep Trophy: Pacers shine as India B beat India A by 76 runs
Bengaluru, Sep 8: KL Rahul's gumption, which helped him pile a patient fifty, found no resonance among his colleagues as India B pacers led by Yash Dayal pushed India A to a 76-run defeat on the fourth and final day of their Duleep Trophy match here on Sunday.
Chasing 275, India A were bundled out for 198 in their second innings as left-arm seamer Dayal (3/50), with able support from his colleagues Mukesh Kumar (2/50) and Navdeep Saini (2/41), led the India B attack.
Rahul top-scored for 'A' with a 51.
In the first session of the day, India B made 184 all out in their second essay to muster a handy overall lead of 274.
The India A chase began on a shaky note as Mayank Agarwal departed in the second over itself, wafting Dayal away from his body to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a wonderful diving catch at second slip.
That brought Riyan Parag to the middle and the right-hander followed the path set on Saturday by Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan.
Parag took on the bowlers and pacer Mukesh bore the brunt of his aggression, getting smoked for two sixes and the second maximum touched the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium over the mid-wicket region.
Parag added 48 runs for the second with a rather subdued Shubman Gill, who was dropped by Nitish Reddy at slips off Mukesh on 16, and 31 came off the former's bat in just 18 balls.
But the approach was tough to sustain considering the kind of assistance the bowlers were getting here, and soon his massive hoick off Dayal took an edge off Parag's bat en route to stumper Rishabh Pant.
Gill (21) departed soon, falling to Saini for the second time in the match and on this occasion, he edged the pacer to Pant.
Dhruv Jurel poked Dayal well outside off-stump to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully, as India batters perished to a combination of bowlers' persistence on that channel and their own carelessness.
They took the lunch at a queasy 76 for four that soon transpired into 99 for six after the dismissal of Shivam Dube and Tanush Kotian, an hour into the lunch.
However, Rahul batted out 180 minutes 121 balls and milked 42 runs for the seventh wicket with Kuldeep Yadav to delay the inevitable.
The standout shot in an otherwise dour innings was a whistling on drive off Mukesh that fetched him a boundary.
But Mukesh had his revenge soon when Rahul feathered a cut off him to Pant, who completed five catches in this innings, soon after reaching his fifty with a single off Saini.
It effectively signalled the end of the road of for India A, though Akash Deep (43, 42b, 3x4, 4x6) gave a few moments of fun with a cavalier innings.
But beyond the entertainment value, it always was a case of when more than if.
Earlier, resuming from their overnight score of 150 for six India B could only 34 runs more to the total before getting bundled out.
Pacer Akash, whom Sarfaraz Khan carted around for five fours in a row the previous day, found his mojo to add the scalps of Washington Sundar and Saini to complete a five-wicket haul (5/56).
The spell will keep his name floating among the contenders when the selectors sit together soon to pick up squad for two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
