New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday accused the BJP of carrying out a "special vendetta" against Maharashtra and claimed that no matter who from the Mahayuti sits in the chief minister's chair, "the strings are always pulled from Delhi and Gujarat".

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh asserted that the Congress party does not believe in playing favourites and? "we believe in the equitable development of the entire country".

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"The Anyay Kaal of 'Hum Do, Humaare Do' has been characterised by a special vendetta against Maharashtra. Whoever from the Mahayuti might sit in the CM's chair, the strings are always pulled from Delhi and Gujarat," Ramesh said in a post on X.

"The Congress party does not believe in playing favourites - we believe in the equitable development of the entire country. New infrastructure projects, special investment zones, and modern industry should benefit all Indians, and not one state alone," he said.

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When the industrialisation of Gujarat was underway in the 1970s and 80s, projects like Gujarat State Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited (GSFC), Gujarat Refinery, and IPCL were set up without taking away projects from other states, the Congress leader said.

"Unfortunately, to please its masters, the BJP has decided that Maharashtra does not deserve any new projects or Central support: An International Financial Services Center (IFSC) has been set up only in GIFT City in Gujarat. Mumbai has been the financial capital of India for 200 years, but the outgoing PM has repeatedly refused to set up an IFSC in Mumbai," Ramesh said.

Dr Manmohan Singh in 2006 had begun the effort to set it up in Mumbai and land in BKC had already been set aside for the IFSC but it was reallocated to the bullet train, costing Mumbai potentially 2 lakh jobs, Ramesh claimed.

"Mumbai and Surat have worked together to develop India's diamond industry for decades, with Surat handling cutting and polishing, and Mumbai handling trading and export. However, the BJP and its puppet masters decided to build the new Bharat Diamond Bourse in Surat," he said.

It is another matter that this move has failed entirely, with many diamond merchants moving their operations back to Mumbai, Ramesh added.

Major industrial investments like the Tata-Airbus manufacturing plant, and the (now-failed) Vedanta-Foxconn chip factory, were all diverted from Maharashtra to Gujarat, he claimed.

Ramesh further said the Textile Commissionerate Office, based in Mumbai for 80 plus years, was suddenly shifted to Delhi last year, for no clear reason whatsoever, despite the fact that the Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR) remains a huge hub of textiles.

The Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education & Development was also shifted from Nagpur to Delhi in 2021, he said.

"The unfortunate fact is that the BJP is completely lacking in vision, and is unable to build anything. They can either sell PSUs or issue threats. Through the UP CM, they decided that Bollywood must be shifted away from Mumbai," he said.

Instead of focusing on building a new media industry, instead of providing infrastructure or safety or any number of other incentives that could spark a cinema boom in UP, they decided instead that threats and arrests in Mumbai would be sufficient, Ramesh said.

"Despite all the pressure exerted by the BJP, the industry with over 100 years of history in Mumbai dating back to Dadasaheb Phalke is not going anywhere," he said.

Ramesh asserted that the Congress has always believed that every state and Union Territory must walk the path of development together as Indians.

"Our vision of 'unity in diversity' stands in stark contrast to the BJP's habit of picking favourites and dishing out step-motherly treatment to the rest. On June 4, the people of India are sure to teach them a lesson," the Congress leader said.

Voting will be held in 13 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra on Monday.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)