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Chipi (Sindhudurg) After 16 years, Uddhav Thackeray and Narayan Rane came on the same stage, targeted each other
The Chipi airport in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra’s coastal district, was inaugurated on Saturday and the event saw arch-rivals of the state Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Union Minister Narayan Rane sharing the stage together, but on this occasion both of them also shared the stage. hit each other. This is the first time that the two leaders have come together on stage after Rane left the Shiv Sena 16 years ago. Earlier both were together in Shiv Sena, but after Rane left the party, his relationship with Shiv Sena President Thackeray turned sour. The two leaders shared the stage amid the backdrop of Rane’s arrest over his objectionable remarks against the chief minister.
Rane, who hails from Sindhudurg, discussed in the program the works that have been done since he was elected MLA for the first time in the year 1990. Rane said when he was made in-charge of the district on the instructions of late Bal Thackeray, Shiv Sena founder (Uddhav Thackeray’s father), there was no good road, proper water and education system in the area.
Rane claimed that after the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition government came to power in 1995, he requested the then Chief Minister Manohar Joshi to declare Sindhudurg district as a “tourism district”. “After this, work was done on basic facilities like roads, electricity, education, water and healthcare. The existing infrastructure is because of Narayan Rane and no one can match it.
Rane claimed, “The public knows who did the work. Uddhav ji, I learned everything from Saheb (Bal Thackeray).” He claimed that even today Chipi does not have infrastructure for water or electricity and even proper road to the airport. Launching a scathing attack on Uddhav Thackeray, Rane said that the late Shiv Sena supremo hated lies and did not care for those who lied.
Hitting back at Rane’s taunt, Thackeray said, “Balasaheb did not like lies. That’s why many times such people were thrown out of Shiv Sena. Balasaheb Thackeray used to say that even if a lie is bitter, it should be told.” Probably referring to Rane’s remarks that all infrastructure development work in the Konkan region was done, Thackeray said, “As per my knowledge Sindhudurg The fort was built by (Shivaji) Maharaj and one may say that I built it.
Thackeray said that one should also brainstorm on the fact that why this airport took so long to be built. He said, “Some people had said that Konkan will be changed to California but what has not happened till now.” The Chief Minister then targeted Rane’s ministry. Rane is the Minister of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
The Chief Minister said, “You (Rane) are a minister. So if it is micro and small then what happened, this is an important ministry and you should use it for the benefit of Maharashtra,” he said, adding that Chipi should have a heliport which can be used for tourism. The Chief Minister said that he never mixes politics with work and when Rane approached him for allocation of funds for a medical college in Sindhudurg district, his proposal was immediately approved.
Rane left Shiv Sena in the year 2005 and he blames Thackeray for this. Rane has been continuously targeting Uddhav Thackeray. Rane was arrested by the Maharashtra Police in August this year for allegedly making controversial remarks on the Chief Minister, days after he was inducted into the Union Cabinet, who was later granted bail by the court.
While addressing the program, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that with the construction of this airport, the distance of 530 km from Mumbai can now be completed in 50 minutes. He said he plans to start flights from Chipi to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and other important cities in the coming years. Scindia said that he plans to start 20 to 25 flights from Chipi in the next five years. He said that with Chipi, the number of airports in Maharashtra has gone up to 14. Maharashtra Tourism and Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray said that efforts will be made to increase tourism in Konkan along with conservation of ecology.
Airbus A-320 and Boeing B-737 can land at the airport
It is worth mentioning that Sindhudurg Airport, popularly known as Chipi Airport, is spread over an area of 275 hectares and the length of the airstrip is 2500 meters. Airbus A-320 and Boeing B-737 aircraft can be operated from this airport. The airport terminal building has the capacity to handle 200 departing passengers per hour and the same number of arriving passengers during rush hour. Union Minister Ramdas Athawale and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar were also present in this program.
