Amruta Fadnavis hits back at Sanjay Raut over 'CMs having picnic in Davos' remarks

Amruta Fadnavis

• Amruta Fadnavis rejected Sanjay Raut's criticism of the Davos visit as baseless
• She defended the Maharashtra CM's packed schedule aimed at investment and jobs
• She said attending WEF is a duty for state leaders to promote opportunities

Did our AI summary help?

Amruta Fadnavis, wife of Devendra Fadnavis, strongly objected to remarks made by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, who criticised the Maharashtra chief minister’s visit to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

Casting doubt on the significance of the Davos visit, Raut on Wednesday sought details of the travel expenditure of leaders attending the global summit.

“Chief ministers from various states in India are having a picnic in Davos,” the Rajya Sabha MP said, adding that “the Davos conference is ridiculous from an Indian perspective.”

Amruta Fadnavis responded quickly and firmly, rejecting Raut’s comments as unfounded and criticising the tone and language employed by the Sena (UBT) leader.

“I can never understand his language,” she told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai, according to a report by News18.

“But I will only say this much that someone who goes for a picnic does not hold conferences and meetings daily from 6 am to 11 pm to bring investment to India and Maharashtra, and boost employment.”

“So I feel that this statement of his, like all his other statements, is baseless,” she added.

Defending the chief minister’s presence, Amruta Fadnavis said the WEF in Davos is an international forum where people from every country go to talk about their country or to find business opportunities.

“Going there, I believe, is the duty of the head of every state in India,” she said.

While in Davos, Devendra Fadnavis said his presence at the World Economic Forum was centred on stakeholder engagement, official meetings and promoting Maharashtra as an investment hub.

Amruta Fadnavis added that the chief minister had a packed schedule of interactions throughout the day, focused on attracting investment and generating employment, making it inaccurate to portray the visit as a leisure trip.