Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said unequivocally on Tuesday that it was time to fight against coronavirus and not a time to play political games. He assured migrant workers that they were safe in Maharashtra. Thousands of migrant workers had gathered near Bandra station in Mumbai on Tuesday after rumours spread that trains had started running. This resulted in a collapse of coronavirus lockdown and social distancing measures in the area and police even had to resort to lathicharge in order to disperse the crowd.
Uddhav Thackeray sought to calm the migrant workers during his address that started at 8 pm on Tuesday.
"Lockdown is not lockup," he said, "When restrictions are lifted, all of us are going to help you reach your homes," he added. Though he spoke in Marathi for the majority of the time during his address. He spoke in Hindi when he addressed migrant workers.
"Number of coronavirus tests in Maharashtra much higher than elsewhere"
At the outset, Thackeray sought to dispel inflated notions about coronavirus situation in Maharashtra. The state has maximum number of Coivid-19 patients in the country. While Thackeray acknowledged that the situation in the state was worrisome, he also pointed out that the state has been able ti carry out large number of tests sending number of detections skywards.
"20-22 thousand coronavirus tests have been carried out in Mumbai alone. Another 10-15 thousand have been carried out in other parts of Maharashtra," said Uddhav Thackeray.
"I thank PM Modi for extending duration of the lockdown"
Uddhav Thackeray thanked PM Modi for extending the duration of national lockdown. In his address on Tuesday morning, PM Modi announced that national lockdown would go on till May 3.
Uddhav Thackeray said that it was his government's request to PM Modi when he had spoken with CMs of Indian states via video conferencing.
"Grateful that 'Bhim Sainiks' celebrated Ambedkar Jayanti inside their homes"
Tuesday (April 14) was the birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Followers of Dr Ambedkar, or 'Bhim Sainiks' as they are also called, come out in large numbers to visit his memorial in Dadar, Mumbai. Calls were made this time around to not come outside owing to national lockdown. Uddhav Thackeray thanked the 'Bhim Sainiks' for celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti indoors.
"Taskforce to fight coronavirus menace"
Uddhav Thackeray said that Maharashtra Government was forming a task force of doctors to fight coronavirus outbreak. He said that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and other ministers in the government will be involved in the coordination.
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