MUMBAI: Shiv Sena led by CM Eknath Shinde and the Shiv Sena (UBT) sparred on Thursday over the cost of the INDIA alliance meeting at a luxury hotel in Mumbai.
While Shiv Sena minister Uday Samant alleged that crores of rupees were being spent for just a 14-hour meeting on Thursday and Friday, UBT Sena leader and former minister Aaditya Thackeray responded by saying that the Shinde faction should first explain who had spent money in Surat and when rebel Shiv Sena MLAs had gone to Guwahati. Aaditya also asked who had paid for the chartered flights and who had paid for “50 khoke” (money bags) allegedly given to the rebel Sena MLAs.
Samant said that when 40 Sena MLAs had gone to Guwahati in July 2022, their tariff (in five-star hotels there) was being talked about. He said, “65 rooms have been booked (in the Mumbai luxury hotel by the INDIA alliance). The rate of a room in this hotel is Rs 25,000-30,000. Even a plate of food is worth Rs 4,500. This is the Marathi food they are offering. 65 new chairs worth Rs 40,000-45,000 have been ordered for the meeting.”
Samant further said, “This is a meeting of frustrated people who have come together. The INDIA alliance will end after the Lok Sabha elections. Many of the parties who criticized Balasaheb Thackeray are included in the INDIA alliance. Shiv Sena (UBT) party is at the 26th position on the list of parties who have gone to a hotel, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP is at the 25th position. So the two most important parties in Maharashtra are at the second- and third-last positions.”
While Shiv Sena minister Uday Samant alleged that crores of rupees were being spent for just a 14-hour meeting on Thursday and Friday, UBT Sena leader and former minister Aaditya Thackeray responded by saying that the Shinde faction should first explain who had spent money in Surat and when rebel Shiv Sena MLAs had gone to Guwahati. Aaditya also asked who had paid for the chartered flights and who had paid for “50 khoke” (money bags) allegedly given to the rebel Sena MLAs.
Samant said that when 40 Sena MLAs had gone to Guwahati in July 2022, their tariff (in five-star hotels there) was being talked about. He said, “65 rooms have been booked (in the Mumbai luxury hotel by the INDIA alliance). The rate of a room in this hotel is Rs 25,000-30,000. Even a plate of food is worth Rs 4,500. This is the Marathi food they are offering. 65 new chairs worth Rs 40,000-45,000 have been ordered for the meeting.”
Samant further said, “This is a meeting of frustrated people who have come together. The INDIA alliance will end after the Lok Sabha elections. Many of the parties who criticized Balasaheb Thackeray are included in the INDIA alliance. Shiv Sena (UBT) party is at the 26th position on the list of parties who have gone to a hotel, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP is at the 25th position. So the two most important parties in Maharashtra are at the second- and third-last positions.”
Source link