Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut on Tuesday claimed Congress Minister in Maharashtra Amit Deshmukh is trying to divert a Central project meant for Konkan to his home district Latur, an assertion disputed by the latter.
Raut, whose party is a Congress ally, said the Ayush Ministry has finalised setting up the National Institute of Medicinal Plants at Sindhudurg in Konkan, but Deshmukh "on his own" wrote to the Centre seeking to locate the project at Latur in the Marathwada region.
The Sena leader is the Lok Sabha MP from Ratnagiri- Sindhudurg, which is part of the coastal Konkan region.
Reacting to Raut's claim, Amit Deshmukh, the state's Medical Education Minister, said there was no discussion at the level of his department at any point of time about locating the institute in Sindhudurg.