The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Friday issued a sharp criticism of the Devendra Fadnavis government, alleging that the Chief Minister is creating false illusions by asserting that Maharashtra’s economy is robust, and that within the next three years, the state will emerge as the nation’s first ‘trillion-dollar’ economy.
“However, the public knows these bubbles are hollow. Remember, when the time comes, the people themselves will prick these bubbles,” the party said in its mouthpiece, ‘Saamana’.
The Thackeray camp in the Saamana editorial said the recent economic data suggested that this optimistic outlook masks a deepening fiscal crisis characterised by record-breaking debt and a decline in per capita income ranking.
The editorial argued that while the government projects that Maharashtra will surpass the economies of Singapore and the UAE if current growth rates persist, several key indicators tell a different story. The growth rate of the state’s vital agricultural sector is estimated to plummet from 9.1 per cent to 3.4 per cent this year. Despite an increase in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), Maharashtra has slipped to fifth place in the country’s per capita income, falling behind smaller states like Telangana. The state’s current economic standing is the result of six decades of development and infrastructure laid by previous administrations, rather than the efforts of the last decade alone, said the editorial.
“Whether it is the state’s gross income or growth rate, the foundation was laid over the last six decades. Fadnavis and the BJP may forget this, but the people have not,” noted the editorial.
According to the editorial, the most significant concern raised is the state’s escalating debt. Maharashtra has become the most indebted state in India. “While the Chief Minister patted himself on the back by stating that the state’s gross income reached Rs 51 lakh crore in the last ten years, what about the mountain of debt? Under his rule, the state’s debt is set to reach a staggering Rs 11.02 lakh crore within a year. The Fadnavis government beats the drums of development but conveniently ignores the increasing debt burden on every citizen. According to current statistics, every citizen in Maharashtra is “debt-ridden” by approximately Rs 85,000 without even taking a loan. In just the past year, the state’s debt increased by about Rs 1.75 lakh crore,” said the editorial.
It further added that the government has to spend about Rs 65,000 crore just on interest payments, a calculation the Chief Minister fails to provide.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena reiterated that the government is “blowing bubbles” with trillion-dollar promises while ignoring the fact that the debt to GSDP ratio is expected to climb towards 21 per cent by year-end. It warned that the public is aware of these fiscal discrepancies and will hold the administration accountable for these “hollow claims” in due course of time.
