French firm’s allegations will impact Mumbai’s image: Opposition

MUMBAI: Mumbai Congress chief MP Varsha Gaikwad on Tuesday said allegations of corruption by Systra against planning agency MMRDA were a “international embarrassment.” Gaikwad sought a CBI probe saying the allegations affect Mumbai’s credibility as a global economic hub. She said MMRDA officials, including metropolitan commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee must be transferred to ensure a transparent probe.
UBT’s Aaditya Thackeray too demanded a free and fair enquiry by the CM’s office. NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar said it is “not fitting” for Maharashtra to receive a notice from a foreign country’s embassy in a graft case. “An overseas consultant working for a decade in Mumbai, that too French, can’t be sidelined and rubbished when they raise claims of corruption,” said Aaditya. “I have said this before and I say this again, Eknath Shinde was CM – Corrupt Mantri,” he alleged.
“The firm, which has played a key role in designing and overseeing Metro projects, has even alleged that it was “pressured to inflate expenses” and subjected to “severe harassment”. These shocking claims have now been escalated to the French Embassy… govt cannot be allowed to hush this up-just as it did when the US probe exposed graft linked to Adani in India,” Gaikwad said.
Rohit Pawar said in a post on X: “If Maharashtra is being defamed globally to help street brokers, will investment come to the state? First, there was a pending dues notice from Davos and now, after seeing the corruption notice from the French embassy, it is not known whether 33 countries have taken notice…”