India, Aug. 10 -- Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday asserted that "sons of the soil" should have the first right over the development of the Konkan region, particularly the proposed Third Mumbai project. He urged residents not to sell their land for the project but instead become stakeholders in its development. He also alleged that political kickbacks had delayed the completion of the Mumbai-Goa highway by more than a decade.

Thackeray made the statement during his tour of Raigad district, where he visited Mangaon to attend an MNS function and later toured stretches of the under-construction Mumbai-Goa highway to assess the project's progress.

Thackeray criticised the Mahayuti government on the planning of ...