Dark Diwali due to pandemic, floods, Maha govt apathy: BJP

Addressing a press conference here, Thane BJP chief and MLC Niranjan Davkhare and MLAs Sanjay Kelkar and Kisan Kathore said the Uddhav Thackeray government had failed to give relief to people ahead of the festival of lights.

Thane:The Thane unit of the BJP on Saturday said the upcoming Diwali festival would be "dark" for farmers and citizens of Maharashtra due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and losses caused by heavy rains and floods in several parts of the state.

Addressing a press conference here, Thane BJP chief and MLC Niranjan Davkhare and MLAs Sanjay Kelkar and Kisan Kathore said the Uddhav Thackeray government had failed to give relief to people ahead of the festival of lights.

Therefore, they said, the chief minister must celebrate 'dark Diwali' at Varsha, his official residence, and Matoshree, his home in Bandra in Mumbai.

Not a single paisa has been paid out as relief after losses caused by floods, landslides, cyclones etc, with the state government only carrying out panchnama of crop and property damage but then not acting on it, they said.

While the MVA government has stated that 55 lakh hectares of crops were destroyed in heavy rains and floods, the figure is above 100 lakh hectares, the BJP leaders alleged.

PTI