Aaditya Thackeray slams Maha CM's proposed trip to Germany

Mumbai, Sep 25 (IANS) Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA and ex-Minister Aaditya Thackeray has slammed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s upcoming trip to Germany and United Kingdom and demanded that his schedule of engagements should be released in advance, here on Monday.

The CM is likely to visit Germany and UK for around 10 days starting end-September, the official details of which are yet to be announced.

Thackeray Jr. said that while he had no objections to such foreign trips if they brought investments or recognition to the state and nation, “it cannot be like his Davos trip where the government spent almost Rs 40-crore on a 28-hour holiday” in January 2023.

“There were no meeting schedules, no photos, no outcomes from Davos. Not even a daylong schedule was released… And the government still hides the real figure of the expenses of the Davos trip,” alleged Aaditya Thackeray.

Now, the Sena (UBT) leader has called upon the CMO to release Shinde’s 10-day trip schedules in advance, before he flies out, and to tweet the outcomes of his meetings/photos while he is there.

“A day’s work mustn’t expand to a week for someone’s holiday. Or else, the trip is just a holiday at the expense of the taxpayers,” said Thackeray strongly.

Shinde, accompanied by some state ministers and officials, is likely to embark for Germany later this month to study that country’s highway design, maintenance and management systems in Berlin.

Later, he is expected to travel to London to sign the MoU for the return of the famed ‘Wagh-nakh’ (tiger-claws) of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, kept in a museum there, as announced earlier this month.