BJP supports building Bihar bhavan in Mumbai, while MNS vows to prevent it

The BJP issued an official statement on Monday in support of constructing a Bihar Bhavan in Mumbai, even as the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has vowed to prevent it at all costs.

“If Bihar Bhavan is going to be built in Maharashtra, what is wrong in it? There is a Maharashtra Bhavan in Bihar too. There are Maharashtra Bhavans in various states. There is a Maharashtra Bhavan in Kashmir. So should the people of Kashmir oppose it? There is a Maharashtra Bhavan in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh too. Did the people there oppose it? So what is wrong with starting a Bihar Bhavan in Maharashtra? These Bhavans are built in different states to facilitate guests coming from outside. MNS is unnecessarily indulging in regionalism on this issue. Raj Thackeray should think about the state of the MNS due to such regionalism,” BJP corporator Navnath Ban, who is also head of the BJP’s media department, stated.

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Navnath Ban is a BJP corporator who was recently elected from ward number 135 in suburban Mankhurd.

The BJP statement came shortly after MNS corporator Yashwant Killedar opposed any construction of a Bihar Bhavan in Mumbai, saying, “We will not allow anything like Bihar Bhavan to be built here”.

“Maharashtra already has many serious problems. There is an untimely crisis for farmers, inflation is rising, children’s education is becoming expensive, unemployment among the youth is increasing, and with many such problems, instead of spending Rs 314 crore to build Bihar Bhavan, attention should be paid to the basic problems of the people,” Killedar said.

“Instead of spending so much money in Mumbai for the people from Bihar who come to Mumbai for medical treatment, they must construct big hospitals in Bihar itself so that people will not need to go outside Bihar for treatment. Our problems are not being solved, and these projects are being pushed on our heads. We will not allow Bihar Bhavan to be built,” Killedar stated.

Yashwant Killedar of the MNS recently got elected as a corporator to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from ward number 192 in Dadar West, where Shiv Sena’s headquarters, called Shiv Sena Bhavan, is located, after defeating Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s Preeti Patankar.

On Monday, Yashwant Killedar was appointed as the group leader of elected MNS corporators by MNS founder Raj Thackeray at a meeting held at Raj’s ‘Shivtirth’ residence. All newly appointed MNS corporators as well as senior MNS leaders like Bala Nandgaonkar, Avinash Abhyankar, and Nitin Sardesai, were present at this meeting.

The statements supporting as well as opposing the construction of a Bihar Bhavan in Mumbai came after it was reported that the Bihar government’s Public Works Department Secretary Kumar Ravi stated that a Bihar Bhavan building will be constructed at Elephant Estate in the Mumbai Port Trust area, in Mumbai as a facility for citizens of Bihar who come to Mumbai for treatment or work.

The proposed Bihar Bhavan will be around 30-storey high, including a basement and modern amenities. The Bihar state cabinet has given the green light for administrative approval of Rs 314.20 crore for the project. The building will be built on about 0.68 acres of land and will have a height of about 69 metres from the ground.