New Delhi: A massive protest led by opposition parties in Mumbai on Saturday (December 16) protested against the Adani Group being the given the project to redevelop the Dharavi slum area. According to The Hindu, thousands of protesters were present and marched towards Gautam Adani’s office in the city from the slum.Slogans like “Remove Adani, Save Dharavi” were visible on their posters. Protesters have demanded that all Dharavi residents be given 500 square foot homeShiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, who led the march, said the Bharatiya Janata Party was falsely claiming that the tender for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) was issued during his chief ministership, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was in power. In fact, he alleged that the BJP had toppled the MVA government just so this project could be awarded to the Adani Group.The protest on Saturday. Photo: X/@ShivSenaUBT_“Not only Dharavi residents but police, sanitary workers and mill workers should also get houses in Dharavi. I am not against development but this is the biggest TDR [Transfer of Development Rights] scam of the world. Adani is getting TDR of Rs 1 crore, which means his next generations can also live peacefully without working. So much is the TDR that the government is gifting them. But we will not let that happen,” Thackeray said, according to The Indian Express.“The decision to redevelop Dharavi was taken in 2018, when Devendra Fadnavis was the chief minister. Therefore, this sin is of Devendra Fadnavis,” he continued. BJP’s Fadnavis is currently the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.“Now one can understand who financed the toppling of my government. With the Shiv Sena around, the BJP could not help its friends; so my party was broken and its symbol was stolen,” Thackeray said.Mumbai Congress chief and Dharavi MLA Varsha Gaikwad was also in attendance.Both the BJP and the Adani Group have claimed that it was the MVA government that had signed an agreement with the Adani Group. “The Dharavi project was awarded to the Adani Group through a fair, open, internationally competitive bidding process,” the group said in a statement.“The tender conditions were finalised during the MVA government’s tenure and have remained unchanged post-awarding. Hence, it is inaccurate to claim any special privileges granted to the awardee,” it continued.
