Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thaꦏckeray on Saturday hit back at Enforcement Directorate action against some persons close to his party in an alleged jumbo COVID facility scam by seeking a probe into the PM CARES Fund.
He also sought probe into the functioning of civic bodies of Nagpur, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune, as well🃏 as governments in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, all of which were or are led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, and Thane, which was controlled by the Eknat🎃h Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
The terms of these civic bodܫies en💎ded in early 2022 but polls were not held due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Addressing party workers, Thackeray dared the government to probe the working of 𓆉the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation during the pandemic, adding that the Epidemic Act aཧnd the Disaster Management Act were in place as the dire situation demanded that one go beyond rules to save the lives of citizens.
The BMC was controlled by the undivided Shiv Sena till its term ended in Februaryꦇ last year.
"We are not scared of any probe. And when you (government) want to probe, then you also pr𝓡obe Thane municipal corporation, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune and Nagpur civic bodies," he said.
"Probe the PM CARES Fund as well. The PM CARES Fund does not come under tജhe ambit of any investigation. Lakhs and crores of rupees were collected. Many ventilators were malfunctioning. We will also carry out a probe," the former chief minister said.
The Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund was set up in 2020 as a public charitable trust with the aim of having a dedicated national fund to deal with dist💮ress related primarily to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ꦜPrime Minister is the chairperson and members include Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister.
Thackeray said he had topped the list of 'best performing chief minister' surveys amid the pandemic and this had led to the BJP having "stomach ache" since none of its leaders could find a place inඣ these rankings.
Thackeray was chief minister from late 2019 till June 2022, while the pandemic set in across the country by Marchꦡ 2020.
"You (BJP-led dispensation) are making a villain of Uddhav Thackeray. People will decide wh🐟ether he is a hero or a villain. But you are 'n♛alayak' (worthless), Thackeray claimed.
The world had praised the "Mumbai model" for the metropoܫlis' fight against the pandemic, while opponents, an apparent reference to the BJP, were defaming it, he alleged.
Mumbai was being looted and the allegations of a COVID scam have surfaced becau💯se the Shiv Sena (UBT) was exposing irregularities, he said.
The Eknath Shinde government had set up a Special Investigation Team under the Mumbai police commissioner to probe alleged irregularities worth Rs 12,00♈0 crore that were flagged in a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Incidentally♏, Thackeray's son and former state minister Aaditya Thackeray will lead a protest on July 1 against alleged corruption in the BMC.
The former chief minister said Maharashtra was t♊he only state to build a field care hospital to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
"What happened in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh?" he asked. Both states are ruled by the BJP and routinely hit the headlines during the pandemic for steep rise in cases, and news of bodies of victims allegedly ﷺbeing dumped in th༺e Ganga.
Thackeray said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appointed a committee of officers and they were allowed to buy equipment beyond the General Framework Agreemen🍃t during the pandemic.
Dismissing the charges of corruption, Thackeray instead dubbed the BJP as cruel for toppling the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh as the pandemic 🐭started to set in.
The Nathꦑ government fell in March 2020 after MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia walked out, paving the way for a BJP government there 🌳under Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
