BJP leader Nilesh N. Rane took to Twitter on Thursday to make a stunning charge against Uddhav Thackeray and his leaders. The BJP leader released an audio tape where he alleged that a Shiv Sena leader was threatening a contractor to stop the work on a highway.
ज्या समृद्धी महामार्गाला शिवसेनेने कडाडून विरोध केला आज त्याच महामार्गाच्या ठेकेदारांना धमकावून शिवसेना पैसे वसूल करायचं काम करतेय. पहिला प्रकल्पांना विरोध करायचा आणि नंतर त्याच प्रकल्पांची ठेकेदारी घ्यायची हा या शिवसेनेचा ठरलेला फॉर्म्युला आहे. pic.twitter.com/4FbVUk2aqb
— Nilesh N Rane (@meNeeleshNRane) November 12, 2020
Nilesh Rane, sharing the audio wrote, “Shiv Sena is working to recover money by threatening the contractors of the same highway that they had once strongly objected to. The Shiv Sena’s formula is to oppose the projects first and then contract for the same projects”.
In the audio tape that was shared by BJP leader Nilesh Rane, he says that a Shiv Sena leader and her aide can be heard threatening a contractor.
In the tape, the alleged Shiv Sena leader and her aide are heard threatening a Highway contractor. In the audiotape, the alleged Shiv Sena leader and her aide appear to be in a conference call with the contractor. They are heard threatening and intimidating the contractor to stop the job assigned to him by the company.
The contractor, however, refuses to heed the Sena leader’s suggestion and defends himself saying he has been awarded the contract by the company and he needs directives from the organisation to stop his work.
Peeved by contractors’ refusal, the Shiv Sena leader tells him that Maha CM Uddhav Thackeray has personally asked her to get this job done(to get the contractor to back off). However, the contractor wouldn’t budge. He asked the Shiv Sena leader to visit his office the next day for a discussion over the matter.
“What’s the need for a discussion? An order from Uddhav Thackeray is final and binding. His authority is final, no company decision comes before his word,” the Shiv Sena leader said.“We will send Shiv Sainiks to have a discussion with you. We will then see how you assume your work,” the leader’s aide ominously threatens the contractor.
BJP Nilesh Rane has alleged that this is the standard modus operandi of the Uddhav Thackeray government where they first oppose construction and then offer contract for it.
OpIndia could not verify if the voice in the tape was indeed that of a Shiv Sena leader and her aide or if there was any money involved, however, one can hear the individual in the tape telling someone that an “order from Uddhav Thackeray is final and binding”. She is also heard menacingly telling the person that she will send Shiv Sainiks to “have a discussion with him”.
The Sena-led government in Maharashtra has been facing criticism for targeting and harassing citizens to score petty political goals. Earlier, She Sena goons had attacked common people over social media posts and voicing options against the Uddhav government. A retired Navy official named Madan Sharma was brutally assaulted in September for a social media post against the Uddhav government. Sena leaders had also threatened actress Kangana Ranaut of physical assault when she had raised her voice against the Thackeray government. The BMC had demolished her office claiming that parts of the construction were ‘illegal’.
