Shiv Sena (UBT) on Saturday accused the MahaYuti government led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of making grand claims on infrastructure while failing to provide even basic healthcare and road facilities in remote tribal regions.
In a strongly worded Saamana editorial, the party said the government’s development narrative amounted to nothing more than “empty words” and “colourful balloons,” pointing out that people living just a few hours from Mumbai still suffer due to broken roads, poor health services and dysfunctional ambulance systems.
The criticism came in the wake of a disturbing incident in Mokhada in Palghar district, where an ambulance driver left a tribal woman and her newborn midway after delivery, forcing them and their relatives to walk two kilometres. The editorial said the episode, revealed only after a citizen posted it on social media, exposed the stark contrast between the government’s lofty development claims and ground reality.
The Thackeray camp said that even after seven decades of independence, areas like Wada-Mokhada and other tribal belts lack basic necessities. It noted that many primary health centres are without doctors, staff or medicines, and pregnant women often have to be carried in slings or palanquins for treatment — risking deaths en route. Even when ambulances are available, they are rendered useless due to the absence of proper roads or drivers.
“In Mumbai, which the Chief Minister claims to be transforming, Mokhada is barely a stone’s throw away. If an ambulance driver can behave so callously with a tribal woman in labour, what use is your development vision?” the editorial asked.
It further accused the MahaYuti partners of boasting about kilometres of roads, bridges and metro lines while failing to address the plight of the most marginalised. “The incident in Mokhada has exposed how baseless these claims and colourful balloons are,” the editorial said.
Concluding its criticism, Shiv Sena (UBT) stressed that true governance is not measured by metro corridors and expressways but by the state’s ability to provide essential services such as healthcare, all-weather roads and reliable emergency systems to its most vulnerable citizens.
