Blame game does not give relief to common man: Fadnavis on Uddhav's remark

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis also asked chief minister Uddhav Thackeray whether he would slash the VAT on petrol and diesel in July when Union government clears all the dues

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday criticised Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, saying his claim about the dues with the Centre was wrong, and asked him not to divert the topic as "blame game does not provide any relief to common man".

His statement came after Thackeray said the Centre owed Rs 26,500 crore to Maharashtra.

Defending the BJP-ruled Centre, Fadnavis said, "Union government makes the payment to the state governments by end of July every year. The Union government not only paid the whole GST amount to the states, but also borrowed from lenders to clear the dues of the states."

"I request you (Thackeray) not to divert the topic. Blame game does not give any relief to the common man," the former chief minister said.

He also asked chief minister Uddhav Thackeray whether he would slash the VAT on petrol and diesel in July when Union government clears all the dues.

"Neighbouring union territory of Daman sells petrol at Rs 102 per litre, whereas it attracts Rs 120 here in Maharashtra. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government should respect PM Modi's appeal to slash the charges and offer some relief to common man," the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly said.

During a virtual interaction with chief ministers on the emerging COVID-19 situation in the country, PM Modi on Wednesday said some states did not reduce VAT on petrol and diesel despite the excise duty cut by the Centre last November and had done "injustice" to the people by not transferring the benefits of the move to them.

Many states such as Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu for some reason or the other did not listen to the central government and the citizens of those states continued to be burdened, the PM said.

After the meeting, CM Thackeray's office here issued a statement detailing the Centre and the state government's share of taxes charged on fuel - mainly petrol and diesel. Thackeray said the Centre owed Rs 26,500 crore to the state, and also accused the Centre of giving a step-motherly treatment to Maharashtra and that the state government was not responsible for the rise in prices of petrol and diesel.