I don’t want another lockdown, says CM Uddhav Thackeray

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at Vidhan Bhavan on Wednesday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has ruled out imposing another lockdown amid increasing COVID-19 cases but indicated that certain restrictions would remain to prevent the transmission of the virus. He was replying during a debate in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.

"Lockdown may be the best tool to break the chain of transmission, but I don't want it to be imposed. I don't want to leave people hungry. The economy will stop. On the other side, we're increasing healthcare apparatus and moving ahead cautiously considering the hard decisions of lockdown taken by some countries that may have better healthcare facilities than us," he said.

Thackeray said his government had done its best and even the Centre's team had acknowledged the efforts during its recent visit. "The Centre's team told me that we lack nothing, but observed that the system had exhausted itself because of prolonged frontline work. And yet, we're taking all possible measures to prevent the infection. I'm ready to be a villain in this because I want people safe and healthy," he said, adding that the vaccination drive had picked up great speed. "I have asked for the network to be expanded. Some 29 private hospitals have been allowed to vaccinate citizens. I have asked for more in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra."

Rejecting the observations made in the Centre's Economic Survey that Maharashtra didn't do better in mitigating the pandemic, the CM came down heavily on the surveyors and their expertise. He said comparing Maharashtra with states like Bihar to draw some conclusions was unacceptable. "A person, who had praised the Centre for demonetisation, has worked on the survey. It seems a medical practitioner's compounder is better than this doctor of economics. The findings mocked the country and our state," he said, adding that the media had exposed Bihar for its ‘bogus' handling of the pandemic.

"So, will you trust such findings to shut Maharashtra? We did not hide the number of patients and deaths," he said, adding that his government did not lie like those who lied about a closed-door meeting with him. Apparently, he was referring to the meeting where Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised Thackeray the CM's post. Shah had denied making such a promise.

‘MVA mismanaged COVID'
On Tuesday, opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis had accused the Thackeray government of mismanagement, particularly in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the MVA government could have mitigated the pandemic by increasing the tests. "The state could have reduced the number of patients by 9,55,000 and deaths by 30,900. Who is responsible for this?" he asked. He said the pandemic was still serious and alleged corruption in its management. "Testing rackets are operating unchecked," he said, citing irregularities in Amravati and Navi Mumbai.

Thackeray, on the other hand, slammed PM Narendra Modi for a sudden lockdown. "The PM didn't do anything when I asked to stop local trains and getting long-distance trains for migrant labourers. We ensured that poor people were fed and looked after. And yet, you blame us," he told the Opposition.

Responding to Fadnavis's concern over the delay in constructing Metro-3 because of the shifting of the depot, the CM said that the BJP and the MVA government could work together to resolve the issue of the ownership of the Kanjurmarg land. "This isn't an ego issue for anyone. We haven't stalled Metro-3. The cost has escalated by Rs 10,000 crore. The Aarey site will be insufficient after some years. We've merged the Metro-3, Metro-4 and 4-A lines to take connectivity up to Ambernath," Thackeray said.