New Delhi: Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s remarks about critics of the Missing Link project on Wednesday (July 8) have sparked sharp reactions from opposition leaders, turning a monsoon infrastructure failure into a heated political debate.In a video clip shared by Shiv Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut on social media, Fadnavis can be seen saying, “Hamare Jayantrao ji ne sahi baat kahi, jinko kutta bhi nahin puchta, woh aaj kal social media par aakar sabko gaali dete hai, mukhyamantri ko bhi gaali dete hain (Our Jayantrao said the right thing. Those who even a dog doesn’t notice, come on social media and abuse everyone, including the chief minister.” He further claimed that trolls were commenting about the Missing Link project between Mumbai and Pune after taking money and warned that if they insult Maharashtra, he will not spare anyone.Fadnavis’ comments come amid an ongoing row over the temporary shutdown of the recently inaugurated Mumbai-Pune Expressway Missing Link after heavy rains triggered landslides on Monday (July 6) and killed three people.Political backlash from opposition partiesRaut retaliated severely to the remark, accusing the chief minister of “failure, arrogance and ego” and questioned whether an undeclared “emergency” had been imposed in the state, crushing dissent under corruption, looting and intimidation.”“Failure, Ego, Arrogance, and so on and so forth… All this will come to an end in a moment! Maharashtra needs a cultured Chief Minister! But what can one do? The mine is just dirt! Has Devendra Fadnavis imposed an Emergency in Maharashtra? Government-sponsored corruption, looting, and mob rule–this very Emergency is the one where the people aren’t allowed to speak out!,” Raut wrote on X.वैफल्य 🙄अहंकारमाजवैगरे वैगरे…हे सर्व क्षणात उतरेल!महाराष्ट्राला संस्कारी मुख्यमंत्र्याची गरज आहे!पण काय करणार?खाण तशी माती!देवेंद्र फडणवीस यांनी महाराष्ट्रात आणीबाणी लागू केली आहे काय?सरकार पुरस्कृत भ्रष्टाचार,लूटमार,झुंडबाजीवर जनतेने बोलायचे नाही ही आणीबाणीच आहे! pic.twitter.com/L3ONOHOUO5— Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) July 9, 2026Speaking at a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Rail Sena event, party president Raj Thackeray also slammed Fadnavis, asking how raising questions about a public infrastructure project amounted to insulting Maharashtra, reported Hindustan Times. He asserted that scrutinising the government was not the same as criticising the state.As per the HT report, Thackeray emphasised that it was the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which first started targeting its opponents online. “What were you [BJP] doing when others were in power? How is anyone insulting Maharashtra when they talk of the Missing Link? Castigating the government does not mean criticising Maharashtra….If you say anything against the Centre, then it is [dubbed as] anti-national,” he said.According to The New Indian Express, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sushma Andhare hit back sharply at the chief minister and said he was mistaking himself for ‘Maharashtra.’ She claimed that Fadnavis was forgetting the difference between the ruling party and the state itself.“The government comes and goes, but Maharashtra as a state remains. People are criticising the ruling party and its head for corruption-ridden, inferior-quality work, not the state of Maharashtra,” Andhare said, “The citizens of the state pay taxes and through these taxes, the infrastructures developed. So, it’s the right of every citizen to ask questions and get an account of their paid tax money, whether it has been used for good-quality development or paying kickbacks and commissions.”She further argued that the chief minister could not deprive people from their fundamental right of demanding explanations from the establishment.BJP ally NCP condemns tunnel qualityThe chief minister’s comments have also put him at odds with an ally within his own MahaYuti coalition. According to a separate report by The New Indian Express, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Sanjay Bansod wrote to Maharashtra assembly alleging that the entrance portions of the Missing Link tunnel collapsed in the very first bout of heavy rain, exposing poor construction and negligence. He also said it appeared the project management consultant and contractors had failed to carry out their work properly, while condemning the quality of cement, waterproofing, joint inspection and slope stabilisation used on the project.Bansod also alleged that the required safety tests were skipped and that the tunnel was inaugurated in haste. Claiming the project’s cost had been inflated, he called for immediate inquires and accountability from contractors. Furthermore, Bansod has demanded a probe by Indian Institute of Technology-level experts into the incident, reported the New Indian Express.“The cost of this project was unnecessarily escalated. This is nothing but the loot of government and honest taxpayers’ money,” he said, “That has to be stopped and immediate inspections need to be carried out for the safety of the people.”Massive failure of a Rs 6,695 crore projectAs reported by The Wire earlier, a landslide at the Missing Link expressway between Mumbai and Pune forced the temporary closure of the route merely two months after Fadnavis inaugurated the Rs 6,695 crore project on May 1.The landslide resulted in the death of three members of a family, with citizens pointing out the irony and colossal failure of an ambitious expressway which was touted as a “permanent fix” for the accident-prone Khandala ghat stretch.The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) described the landslide as an “act of God” and maintained that the tunnel structure was itself undamaged and rockfall mitigation measures in place despite the landslide.Nevertheless, the obvious breakdown of the Missing Link, leading to the loss of innocent lives, has drawn the Fadnavis-led government to the centre of widespread critique from opposition parties and allies alike.