Mumbai, Feb 26: Shiv Sena(UBT) on Wednesday showered praise on Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis while congratulating him for his strong measures to bring discipline in the state administration, especially by taking stern action against fixers and brokers.

The Thackeray camp in the party mouthpiece Saamana’s editorial has thereby targeted former Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, saying that during his tenure the fixers and brokers had a free run.

“Due to rampant corruption, state politics has become rotten. Financial indiscipline has reached its peak. The money needed to buy and then feed MLAs, MPs, corporators and real Shiv Sena office-bearers was collected by looting roads, construction contractors, various state undertakings such as MMRDA, MSRDC, MHADA, SRA, and the Urban Development Department. Many switched parties to get the money from that loot,” the editorial read.

“Where did this flow of money come from? This money was accumulated through illegal tenders, fake works, commissions in fund allocation, plot scams and brokerage in housing construction. The latest news is that Shinde’s Chief Collector has fled to Dubai with ten thousand crore rupees,” claims the Saamana editorial.

“The Shinde faction has been nervous due to Fadnavis’ cleanliness movement. The tender of Rs 500 crore was increased to Rs 3,000 crore and in between Rs 1,000 crore was taken even before the commencement of the work. Out of which Rs 100 to 200 crore were to be distributed among the followers (Shinde) and all of the money is being used by taking them for a holy dip in Ganga at Prayagraj,” the edit piece says

“Fadnavis has started the sacred work of putting an end to all these manipulators. It would be surprising if Shinde and his people have not been angered by this! Fadnavis did another important work as Chief Minister. He took away the power to appoint the ‘PA’ and ‘OSD’ of the ministers. Out of the names sent by the ministers as ‘PA’ and ‘OSD’ to the Chief Minister for approval, 16 names were directly rejected by the Chief Minister. This was because these 16 people were engaged in fixing and brokerage by becoming OSD (officer on special duty) in the previous Shinde (Mindhe) led government. Chief Minister Fadnavis rejected all these ‘fixers’. The Chief Minister’s stance that he will not give the posts to ‘fixers’ is correct,” reads the editorial. It has further come to light that the 16 rejected, 12 were suggested by the Ministers from the Shinde camp to be their OSDs.

“During the Eknath Shinde era, the Ministry was a ‘fair’ for brokers and fixers. Anyone could come, deposit a percentage of the total contract and approve the funds and works. The works were given when the treasury was in a state of turmoil. Development works were approved in a hurry on the eve of the elections. The contractors did the work, but since the work was not properly approved, the contractors’ bills were delayed. Contractors’ associations have said that there is an arrear of about Rs 90,000 crore for various government works. Out of this, Rs 25,000 crore has already been taken as ‘brokerage’.”

“To keep the MLAs and MPs (Shinde-Ajit group) happy, they signed the papers. On the strength of those signed papers, these people took crores from the contractors. Now, with Devendra Fadnavis’ move to reconsider these works, the Shinde group’s calculations have gone haywire as they are reeling under the financial crisis…The people, who are going to the Shinde group, are either contractors or direct beneficiaries… if the Chief Minister has decided to destroy all these corrupt hoarders, then what will happen to all these fixers and hoarders?”, the editorial says.

“Many tricks of loot have come to light in three years. A French company accused MMRDA of ‘commission’ extortion. This company is involved in the construction of the Metro. The bills for regular work done by this company are being deliberately delayed. Foreign companies are told that the bills will not be cleared unless the ‘master’s’ commission is received. This is only defaming our country,” the edit piece reads.

“Deputy Chief Minister Shinde had recently met Union Minister Amit Shah and complained that CM Fadnavis is hitting them on the stomach … If the stomachs of MLAs and MPs remain empty, your party will not survive, Shinde told Shah. On the contrary, PM Modi’s role is to end corruption. Prime Minister Modi recently announced, ‘Just tell me the names of those who are taking money, and I will straighten them out one by one’. Then in such a situation, Fadnavis would not have any objection to telling Prime Minister Modi the names of Shinde and his fixers,” the Saamana editorial says.