Fraud named Sanjay Gupta appears as spokesperson on shows: Aaditya Thackeray warns legal action against news channels

Aaditya Thackeray. File Photo

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has called out certain news channels for allegedly misrepresenting a self-proclaimed individual as a spokesperson for the party.

In a fiery social media post, Aaditya Thackeray named "a fraud named Sanjay Gupta" who has been appearing on select television and YouTube channels, claiming affiliation with the Shiv Sena (UBT).

"Despite the Party clarifying multiple times that the crook is not a spokesperson, and has nothing to do with the party, these selected channels call him on their shows as our ‘spokesperson' or ‘supporter,'" Thackeray stated.

"We will be taking legal action against this. It is shameful that a few YouTube channels and channels need such crooks for their own TRPs," he added.

Aaditya ridicules MoUs signed by Maharashtra govt at Davos; says only 11 of 54 firms are foreign

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Friday said only 11 of the 54 companies with which the Maharashtra government signed MoUs in Davos during the World Economic Forum are from abroad, while the remaining 43 are Indian.

Addressing a press conference, Thackeray said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis could have balanced the signing of Memorandums of Understanding with meetings with heads of state and federal governments as well as social entrepreneurs instead of spending Rs 20-25 crore on the Davos trip.

"Let me assure you there is no other place in the world like Davos for global networking, especially for an industrial and progressive state like Maharashtra," he said, adding that people must not be fooled by public relations exercises over the MoUs.

"In total, MoUs have been signed with 54 companies across the board in Davos by the Government of Maharashtra. Of these, 43 companies are Indian, while 11 are foreign companies. Of the 43 companies, 31 are located in Maharashtra," Thackeray pointed out.

According to the state government, 61 MoUs have been signed during the World Economic Forum entailing an investment of Rs 15.70 lakh crore, which could potentially create 16 lakh jobs.

The CM's staff and office misaligned his programme and somewhere ensured that this trip was mired with the MoUs signed, Thackeray claimed.

Such MoUs could have been signed at the 'Magnetic Maharashtra' event, which incidentally has not been held for the past two years, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader further said.

Why has the state government not organised 'Magnetic Maharashtra' to attract investments when others like Gujarat, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are holding such events, he asked.

Many of the MoUs signed at Davos, especially the ones with realtors, were not necessary because they had already bought land and the investment would have come any which way, Thackeray claimed.

Taking a dig at what he claimed were "laughable" MoUs, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said, "Next time even road contractors will be taken to Davos".

He slammed state minister Uday Samant for reaching Davos late and coming back to India early.

Samant was not even present during the inauguration of the Maharashtra Pavilion at Davos, Thackeray said.

Thackeray ridiculed Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde by saying the latter was not in the delegation to Davos despite MMRDA and CIDCO, which are part of his Urban Development portfolio, being involved in some of the MoUs signed.

(With inputs from Agencies)