The Congress has kicked off a statewide affordable‑housing push across Maharashtra, teaming up with 25 partner groups to tackle soaring building costs. The drive, announced in Mumbai on Friday, aims to make homes more reachable for ordinary people.
“We launched this because house prices in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra are simply out of reach for most people,” said Harshwardhan Sapkal, chief of the state party unit. Sapkal cited the 33/33/33 land‑development rule, where a third of mill‑land is set aside for public use but is instead being sold to industrialists. He demands that this portion be diverted to affordable housing projects instead.
Sapkal also pointed to the Congress‑initiated Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) programme, which promised 110,000 homes for mill workers. “Only 15,000 have been delivered,” he said. “The rest of the land is going to private companies. The BJP‑led Mahayuti government is basically selling Mumbai to friendly businessmen. Earlier, Delhi’s central leaders did the same. Now Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is doing it in Maharashtra, gifting land parcels to a new set of industrialists and launching housing projects for them.”
The party also slammed Cooperation Minister Balasaheb Patil, who claimed that farmers “have become addicted to loan waivers.” Sapkal called the remark irresponsible, adding that it further hurts already distressed farmers. He slammed the Fadnavis administration for making such statements and said the ministry’s “arrogant, loose‑tongued” tone should see those ministers dismissed. “CM Fadnavis keeps protecting them,” he said, calling the situation a tragedy for Maharashtrians.
Looking ahead, preparations for the local body elections are underway. Sapkal said review meetings have been held in every district and voter lists are being verified. The Congress is inviting applications from potential candidates, who will be vetted by district committees before the state committee makes final decisions. Alliance choices for the local elections will be decided at the grassroots level.
Source: ianslive
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