Narendra Modi government is anti-Maharashtra: Narayan Rane

Maharashtra Congress on Wednesday accused the Narendra Modi-led government of being biased against the state and claimed that the Centre was planning to reduce the importance of Mumbai as financial capital of the country and also shut down operations at the JNPT.

State Industries Minister Narayan Rane told reporters here that three divisions of RBI's forex department have been shifted to Delhi recently and a letter to editor about the effect this would have in lowering the importance of Mumbai as a financial centre was published in Shiv Sena's mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

"However, (Sena chief) Uddhav Thackeray, who is the editor of the paper, is so blinded by lust for power that he has not taken note of Modi government's attempt to lower Mumbai's position as an economic centre and financial capital of the country. He is busy with seat-sharing talks and is aiming to be chief minister," Rane alleged.

"If Bal Thackeray was in his place, he would have stopped all alliance talks and demanded that the three RBI divisions be brought back to Mumbai," he said. The Reserve Bank of India was set up in 1935 in Mumbai and has contributed to the emergence of the megapolis as a financial nerve centre.

"Even when Indira Gandhi had once wanted to shift the RBI headquarters to Delhi, YB Chavan explained the importance of having the bank headquartered in Mumbai and the plan was dropped. RBI's contribution in emergence of Mumbai as the hub of banking trade and commerce cannot be ignored," he said.

Congress condemns the Centre's move, Rane said, adding that he will write to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to convene a special Cabinet meeting to oppose the Union government's decision to shift the three divisions to Delhi and demand that the earlier status be resorted.