Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday denied the opposition’s claim that Maharashtra has lost projects to Gujarat and said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state has secured 52 per cent of the total investment in the country.

While addressing a rally held at Balajinagar Dhankawadi for the Khadakwasla assembly, Fadnavis said that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule have become the spokespersons of Gujarat and are giving free publicity for the state and Maharashtra. He accused him of defaming him. .

“Sometimes I ask myself how do these people (the opposition) have the confidence to lie so much? I was the Chief Minister in 2014-19, the number one investor in FDI in Maharashtra. I became Prime Minister in 2019. The No. 1 ranking in 2020 was Karnataka. Maharashtra climbed to number 4. Later in 2021, the number 1 spot was Gujarat. “Maharashtra has risen to number 4.”

“As soon as our new government came in, Maharashtra rose to number 1 again. According to the current RBI report published, 52 percent of the investment in the country in 2022, 2023 and 2024 came from Maharashtra. There is no rivalry between Gujarat and Karnataka. The country as a whole is at 48 percent, while Maharashtra is at 52 percent. I say how lucky Gujarat is. They don’t even need to advertise. MVA is advertising them,” said Fadnavis.

On Thursday, during a public rally in Dhankawadi, Pawar had attacked the Mahayuti government over Maharashtra’s loss of first place. Pawar even blamed the relocation of industries from Mahrashtra to Gujarat.