Mumbai, March 19 Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray said on Thursday that India should have supported Iran when it was attacked by the US and Israel, but there was no protest from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this, which "will definitely hurt us in the future".
Addressing his party's annual Gudi Padwa rally, Thackeray said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis claims he wants to make Maharashtra's economy a USD 3 trillion one, but the state has a debt of Rs 11 lakh crore.
When Prithviraj Chavan was chief minister (from 2010 to 2014), the state's debt was Rs 2 lakh crore, which has now increased to Rs 11 lakh crore, Thackeray claimed.
The MNS president also launched a website for people to give their suggestions on how to move Maharashtra forward.
"Concrete ideas will be forwarded to experts, and after review, they will be shared with the government," he said.
Thackeray expressed hope that his party, which completes 20 years, will come to power and regain the glory of Maharashtra.
On the ongoing shortage of cooking gas amid the West Asia crisis, Thackeray said that Iran had been supporting India for many years.
"We should have supported Iran. Iran provided oil to India in rupee currency. (But) Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) did not issue any statement after (Ayatollah) Khamenei's killing. There was no statement of protest or attack," Thackeray said.
He said that Iran supported India even on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at the global level, but New Delhi did not support Tehran when it was in trouble.
"This will definitely hurt us in the future," the MNS president claimed.
Thackeray said that people are stuck watching IPL, movies, television, and scrolling on Instagram.
Governments worldwide want people to be engaged in these activities so they don't ask questions, he asserted.
Cities have crumbled, Thackeray said while informing that he had raised the issue of traffic congestion with Chief Minister Fadnavis and the Deputy CM.
"We are losing everything. Buildings are being constructed by giving abrupt permissions," Thackeray alleged.
He said that Maharashtra has announced farm loan waivers thrice, but the state records the highest number of farmer suicides.
The 'Marathi manoos' praises the Coastal Road, but it has been made to welcome outsiders and exclude 'Marathi manoos', Thackeray claimed.
Cities are losing land, he said, adding that industrialists like Adani are taking it, and the government is assisting them.
"We are losing our identity as Maharashtra, our language. We will not get it back once we lose it," he added.
Thackeray said that drugs are being sold across Maharashtra, and youth are getting addicted in schools and colleges. He also spoke about the issue of children going missing in the state.