Congress launches affordable housing campaign, slams BJP govt for 'loot' of Mumbai

Mumbai, Oct 10 (PTI) Maharashtra Congress on Friday announced the launch of a campaign for affordable housing in collaboration with 25 organisations and demanded a 'white paper' on land allotments in Mumbai.

The opposition party also accused the BJP-led Mahayuti government of handing over prime city land to industrialists at throwaway prices.

House prices in Mumbai and across the state have gone beyond the reach of common people, and the Congress-initiated affordable housing schemes must be expanded, the party's state unit chief Harshwardhan Sapkal said.

"The 33 per cent land reserved for public use under the 33/33/33 formula for mill land redevelopment is being handed over to industrialists. The BJP-led Mahayuti government is literally putting Mumbai up for sale. From Dharavi redevelopment to airport and prime land parcels, everything is being gifted to their favourite businessmen," Sapkal alleged at a press conference here.

Congress governments had initiated affordable housing through MHADA and had also taken the decision to provide homes to mill workers, he said.

"Out of the 1,10,000 homes promised for mill workers only 15000 have been delivered. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has created his own favourite industrialist and was feeding him Mumbai's land, including SRA plots. A 'Housing Rights Conference' will be held on October 12 at Tilak Bhavan, Dadar, to chalk out a strategy to resist the loot of Mumbai lands," Sapkal said.

The event will be attended by several trade union leaders and representatives from allied organisations, he added.

Responding to a query, Sapkal criticised state Cooperation Minister Balasaheb Patil's reported remark that "farmers have become addicted to loan waivers," calling it "shameful and insensitive." "At a time when farmers are in distress, such remarks rub salt into their wounds. Ministers in the Fadnavis government are loose-tongued and arrogant. If the Chief Minister has any sense of decency, he should sack such ministers," Sapkal said.

He also said preparations for local body elections were underway, with review meetings held across districts and scrutiny of voter lists in progress.

Candidate selection would be routed through district committees and finalised at the state level, while decisions on alliances would be made locally, Sapkal added.

Taking a swipe at Minister Mangalprabhat Lodha over his recent call for pigeon shelters, Sapkal quipped that he should build a "Lodha Pigeon Tower" instead.

He also criticised the BJP for "raising religious and cultural issues like Varaha Jayanti and Chhath Puja" ahead of municipal elections to divert attention from real issues. PTI MR BNM