Mumbai: In a surprising development, Saamana, the mouthpiece of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT), in its editorial titled ‘congratulations Deva Bhau’ on Friday praised Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after 11 Naxalites, including a key figure, Tarakka, surrendered in Gadchiroli. The editorial also lauded Fadnavis for his commitment to development in the Naxal-hit region.
It welcomed Fadnavis’s decision to inaugurate new projects in the district on New year’s Day. The editorial pointed out that that turning Gadchiroli from a “Naxalite district” into a “Steel City” would be a commendable achievement, only if the development benefits local tribal communities rather than working for the interests of mining tycoons.
“If the current Chief Minister wants to give Gadchiroli a new identity of ‘Steel City’ instead of ‘Naxalites’ district,’ then he should be welcomed,” the editorial read.
“Now if the present Chief Minister decides to change this picture in Gadchiroli, we congratulate him. The previous Guardian Minister of Gadchiroll had also visited the place on motorcycle many times. However it was then alleged that these tours were more about how to increase the percentage of certain mining lords than the development of tribals there,” it added.
“Chief Minister Fadnavis chose to focus on Gadchiroli, ushering in a new era of progress in this Naxal-affected area when other cabinet minters were busy in getting lucartive posts,” the editorial pointed.
What Sanjay Raut Said?
When asked about the Samnaa editorial praising Fadnavis, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, “I have seen the visuals of 10 Naxalites, surrendering their arms and accepting Indian constitution, so if someone does that it must be appreciated. If a district like Gadchiroli is developed it is good for the whole state and if it becomes the steel city of Maharashtra, nothing is better than that. If this all has been done after the initiative of Devendra Fadnavis and no one is appreciating this, it will not be the right thing.”
“We always appreciate good initiatives. We have criticised PM Modi also, but when he does something good, we do appreciate him for all the good things he does. Till date, it was a pattern that whatever industry comes to Gadchiroli, people think only about extortion from the industrialist who was aspiring to start some industry in Gadchiroli, but now it seems things are changing and that must be appreciated,” he added.
The development came days after Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray met Fadnavis. Notably, Shiv Sena parted ways with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the 2019 assembly polls. Thackeray became chief minister of the state with the support of ideologically different parties – the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). However, there was split in Shiv Sena after Eknath Shinde with the support of 39 other party MLAs joined hands with the BJP in June 2022 and Thackeray had to resign.
