‘Matoshree-2 was built on land acquired at dirt cheap rate,’ Sanjay Nirupam drops a bombshell on Uddhav Thackeray

The Maha Vikas Aghadi is surviving on borrowed time, and the slightest push by any three parties in the state, i.e., NCP, Congress and the BJP, will lead to the alliance falling over like a pack of cards. It is no secret that Sharad Pawar, NCP supremo is running the government, and Uddhav Thackeray is a mere puppet of a Chief Minister. This, however, has not stopped the Congress party from taking pot-shots at the Uddhav-led Sena. Now, the Congress has stepped up the game, and has levelled a serious charge against the Sena supremo.

Senior Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam has come out in the open and alleged that Uddhav Thackeray has a money laundering angle with Sterling Biotech Scam accused, Rajbhushan Dixit, Director at Sterling Biotech who has been arrested and charge sheeted by the CBI for bank fraud. Nirupam has stated, as per a report by Republic World, that Uddhav Thackeray and Rajbhushan Dixit made a transaction in 2016 for the land on which the seven-storeyed building – Matoshree-2 has now been built. Nirupam also alleged that Bhushan had received only Rs 5.80 crores for the land deal, suggesting a mismatch in transaction due to the land’s high property value.

The Congress leader, while demanding an ED and CBI probe into the Thackeray angle, said that there might be an undisclosed and closed-door cash dealing apart from the official cheque payment paid by the Shiv Sena supremo to Bhushan. Saying that for a property like the one upon which Matoshree-2 now stands, to be sold at a meagre 5.8 crore rupees would be impossible. Sanjay Nirupam added that the land situated in the Bandra-Kurla complex, opening towards the sea-face, costs much more than the transaction which was shown on papers by the Thackerays.

According to Republic World, the Thackerays have constructed a seven-storied building with a built-up area of 1291.81 sq mt and a parking lot with a capacity of around 15 cars. They were reportedly handed the Full Occupancy and Building Completion Certificate by the BMC in October 2018. The family is yet to move into the residence.

With accusations flying high in Mumbai, between what are supposed to be alliance partners no less, the fault lines of the Maha Vikas Aghadi are only expected to further widen henceforth. In any case, the BJP has been maintaining that the current government would be falling under its own weight soon, and that they need not take much effort to try and dislodge Uddhav Thackeray from the chair he so direly fought for last fall.