Mumbai, Nov 17 (PTI) Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Sunday accused the ruling Mahayuti of plundering the skills and resources of Mumbai and Maharashtra and attacking democracy through defections.
Addressing a press conference here, the AICC general secretary targeted the Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, claiming dreaded gangsters were being given protection and known criminals actively encouraged under its rule.
Surjewala said, "The entertainment industry, including Bollywood, was brazenly issued threats, and political leaders were murdered in broad daylight. Can this happen without the active or tacit complicity of those in power?"
He alleged that the state is under a designed attack by the "khokha group vultures" and described the leaders of Mahayuti as "predators clawing at and ripping apart democracy through defections".
The Congress leader claimed the Mahayuti was doling out contracts and tenders at a destructive pace with scant regard for procedures, transparency, accountability, ecology, and environmental sensibility.
He accused the ruling alliance of destroying the industrial revolution in Mumbai and Maharashtra, pushing new projects, investments, and jobs outside the state.
Mumbai and Maharashtra's skills and resources are being plundered by "invaders masquerading as the ruling Mahayuti", Surjewala claimed, adding that the "Mahayuti-made mahengai" (inflation) has made life hell for the people of the city and the state.
He alleged that Bollywood and prominent entertainers were facing death threats and firing at their residences by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
The gunning down of former minister Baba Siddique in Bandra, allegedly by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, shocked the entire country and exposed the "gun and gunda raj", he said.
He listed incidents of former corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar, who was shot dead during a Facebook live session, and BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad shooting Shiv Sena leader Mahesh Gaikwad inside a police station.
The Congress leader further claimed that while the Mahayuti gave a last-minute lollipop of exempting toll for entry into Mumbai, the MMRDA continues to recklessly award tenders and contracts, which will lead to the imposition of tolls for 35 years in the region.