Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has pushed for the construction of the Shaktipeeth Expressway linking Nagpur to Mumbai despite misgivings and opposition against the project even within the BJP as well as from farmers whose lands will be taken away for the project.

Villagers and farmers from 12 districts of Maharashtra staged a protest at Azad Maidan in Mumbai while the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising the Congress, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the Sharad Pawar-headed NCP, along with farmers’ leader and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana founder Raju Shetti backed the protestors, by joining them at the Azad Maidan.

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However, responding to a question by Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena leader Ambadas Danve, who is the leader of the upper house, Fadnavis said in the Maharashtra state legislative council, “There are more farmers in favour of the Shaktipeeth Expressway project than against it. The Shaktipeeth Expressway is not just a road but a project that will change the face of five districts just like Samruddhi Expressway did. We will not force the project on anyone. We will sit and understand the issues of farmers. While some farmers are protesting there are more farmers who plan to have gatherings to show their support to the project”.

Last year, the Shaktipeeth Expressway had to be put on the back burner after the farmers from Kolhapur opposed the project. Leaders from all three parties of the ruling Mahayuti, namely the BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, had asked for land acquisition for the project to be slowed down. They had attributed the ruling Mahayuti’s loss in Kolhapur in the Lok Sabha elections to people’s opposition to the Shaktipeeth Expressway.

Also, just ahead of the Maharashtra state assembly polls last year, leaders like Sanjay Mandlik from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, Hassan Mushrif from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Dhananjay Mahadik from the BJP had raised concerns about local opposition to the Shaktipeeth project.

Mandlik, who had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from Kolhapur as a Mahayuti candidate, had even given a memorandum to the then CM Eknath Shinde to scrap the Shaktipeeth project, while Mushrif had stated that the Shaktipeeth project was among the major reasons the Mahayuti lost in at least 12 Lok Sabha constituencies, especially Kolhapur.

“Last year, there was no clarity about how the road is going to be aligned. The Opposition campaigned about the Shaktipeeth expressway spreading a fake narrative that it will adversely impact farmers without knowing the plans,” Mahadik said.

Meanwhile, the opposition to the Shaktipeeth Expressway project continued as protesting farmers expressed their determination to prevent any survey of their land for the project, which they believe will adversely affect their livelihoods.

Former MP and representative of farmers, Raju Shetti accused the Mahayuti government of corruption surrounding the Rs 86,000-crore project. “If this project is about connecting the temples of Maharashtra, why is the road going to Goa,” Shetti asked.

While the government estimates the cost of building one kilometre of the six-lane road at Rs 107 crore, Shatti said his calculations suggest that it should cost only Rs 35 crore. “We want to know where the extra Rs 70 crore is going,” he demanded while addressing the protesting farmers at Azad Maidan.

The Shaktipeeth Expressway will be 802 km long, which would make it longer than the Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway, popularly known as Samruddhi Mahamarg, which is 701 km. The expressway will start from Pavnar in Wardha district and end at Patradevi on the Maharashtra-Goa state border.