Congress party has dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Smart City Mission as “unconstitutional.”

Senior party leader Narayan Rane said the funds allocated by Centre are for schemes which are already in progress and are being executed by the local bodies.

The Smart City concept does not fit into the parameters of the Constitution, he said and slammed the Maharashtra government’s “inability” to take decisions for the welfare of people.

During 1980s, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi made certain amendments to the Constitution under which only municipal corporations and local bodies can take decisions on development works, the former Chief Minister said.

In this context Smart City mission is unconstitutional and cannot be allowed to be implemented. “How can private bodies bypass an elected body and take decisions on redevelopment? On top of all this, the insufficient money provided by the Centre is for those projects, the work of which is already going on and being executed by local bodies,” Rane said.

Earlier, Shiv Sena and the MNS had opposed the project, terming it as “illegal”, which according to them is a ploy to centrally control cities like Mumbai.

Rane also alleged that the BJP-led government has kept most questions raised by the opposition on various issues unanswered.