New Delhi: On December 15, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aditya Thackeray accused former Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and two former ministers of being involved in a Rs 12,000 crore road scam, and he urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to keep them out of the cabinet.
Thackeray expressed his concerns in a post on X, stating that if the BJP government is genuinely committed to addressing the road scam, it should not include Shinde and the two other guardians of his regime—Lodha and Kesarkar—in the cabinet. He claimed the BJP’s acknowledgment of poor road work and their call for an SIT investigation only supports his allegations that Shinde’s administration was involved in two scams totaling ₹12,000 crores.
He emphasized that the money wasted was from Mumbai’s taxpayers and was allegedly funneled to benefit contractors and politicians. Thackeray noted that he has been speaking out about these issues for the past two years, despite the BJP’s past support for Shinde’s government. He urged CM Fadnavis to initiate a formal inquiry into the matter.
As the new BJP-led Maharashtra cabinet expansion is set to occur in Nagpur, Thackeray’s allegations come amidst plans to address Mumbai’s persistent pothole issue through an ambitious project aimed at repairing 700 km of roads initiated during Shinde’s tenure as Chief Minister and Urban Development Minister.
Thackeray further claimed there was evidence of cartelisation of contracts during Shinde’s administration. Earlier, he stated the need for an Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) investigation into the contracts, while the Mumbai BJP chief, Ashish Shelar, has called for an SIT probe and a comprehensive audit of the road work, seeking assistance from experts at local technology institutes.