Sena-affiliated union extorting Marathi entrepreneurs: BJP

Seeking to hold Shiv Sena responsible for dwindling Marathi population in Mumbai, the BJP today alleged a Sena-led workers union was indulged in "extorting money" from Marathi-speaking entrepreneurs and was "taking away" job protection of the workers.
Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), which is active in various sectors, is not letting entrepreneurs do any business unless and until they cough up money, BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari claimed.
He said BKS has made local workers sign illegal Fixed Term Contracts (FTC) thus taking away their job security.
"Sena has always claimed it is the protector of the interest of Marathi-speaking population. The Maharashtrian percentage in Mumbai in 1997 was about 31 to 33 per cent. Today, 20 years later, that percentage has dwindled to 22 per cent, a drop of 10 per cent in the last 20 years," he said.

Warring allies Sena and BJP have escalated attacks on each other as the campaign for the February 21 civic polls, including Mumbai, is drawing to close on Sunday.
He said many industries owned especially by Maharashtrians shut down in the last decade due to which over one lakh Marathi workers lost jobs.

"Sena which prides itself as the protector of Marathi interests often strikes sly deals with businessmen and gave only grade four casual labourer jobs to Marathi-speaking people in five star hotels.
"These workers were made to sign never heard of illegal Fixed Term Contracts (FTC) which offered no protection of gratuity, pension or provident fund," the BJP leader said, adding this practice is "replicated" on outskirts of Mumbai in industrial units of MIDC in Dahanu, Palghar, Boisar and Wada in Thane district.

He claimed several workers affiliated to BKS have joined BJP.
"Recently, several Maharashtrian entrepreneurs met BJP MoS for Home (Urban) Ranjit Patil and demanded intervention by government. They threatened to relocate their units if the government fails to act," the spokesperson said.
Claiming Sena has often lampooned Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' agendas like 'Ease of Doing Business' and 'Make In Maharashtra', Bhandari said, "Sena never wanted any development to take place in state. However, despite this the FDI inflow in the state is 2.5 times more than the national average."
He announced the launch of a mobile application "Invite CM".

The app allow users to 'invite' the 3D image of Fadnavis, which will then proceed to deliver a five-minute video message in Marathi, Hindi and English. People can also click selfies with the image.