Mumbai: In their first joint street protest Saturday, leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) strongly called for Maharashtra governor’s removal for allegedly insulting the state’s icons, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) deflected by highlighting the Congress’ past criticism of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
The join agitation was staged by the MVA — comprising the Shiv Sea (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress — against the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, comprising the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena and the BJP.
The agitation was mainly to protest against Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s alleged disrespect of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji and the flare-ups at the Maharashtra-Karnataka border over the territorial conflict between the two states, both currently under a BJP regime.
While NCP president Sharad Pawar at the protest rally said that “entire Maharashtra will burn” if Koshyari is not removed, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray in a veiled taunt at the ruling parties slammed them as “Maharashtra’s traitors” for not speaking out against the governor’s comments.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis slammed the MVA leaders’ statements asking why Shiv Sena (UBT) did not speak up when Congress leaders repeatedly “disrespected” Savarkar.
The BJP Mumbai unit, meanwhile, staged a ‘Maafi Maango’ (we demand apology) andolan simultaneously to protest against controversial comments made over the past month by Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders such as Sanjay Raut and Sushma Andhare on Dr B.R. Ambedkar and the Warkari sect.
Also read: Meet Sushma Andhare, Uddhav Sena woman leader who’s bringing back Balasaheb’s ‘firebrand’ style
‘Insult’ of personalities
Addressing the protest, which started from Byculla’s Richardson & Cruddas and culminated near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, NCP’s Pawar said: “Iconic personalities of Maharashtra are revered throughout the country, but the governor makes objectionable remarks about the same personalities. He should be removed at the earliest, otherwise the entire Maharashtra will burn. A lesson needs to be taught to those who use dishonourable words about Maharashtra’s great personalities.”
Similarly, Uddhav Thackeray said, “Today, all parties have united. Only the traitors of Maharashtra are standing separately. Oust the governor, this is our demand. I don’t consider Bhagat Singh Koshyari to be the governor anymore. I respect the chair, but we will not tolerate anyone sitting there and hitting out at anybody.”
Speaking at a function in Aurangabad last month, Koshyari had called Chhatrapati Shivaji an “icon of older times” and named “modern-day” icons such as B.R. Ambedkar and BJP leader Nitin Gadkari, prompting severe criticism from the Opposition MVA.
In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah last week, though, Koshyari stood by his words, saying naming historical icons alongside modern ones didn’t diminish their importance or amount to disrespect.
Speaking to reporters, Fadnavis said the BJP doesn’t stand for disrespect of any icon of Maharashtra and the MVA’s agitation is “purely for political capital”.
“My question is, particularly to Shiv Sena. When Congress every day disrespected Swatantraveer Savarkar, at that time why didn’t you lead a protest or talk about it? Isn’t Swatantraveer Savarkar a major icon? This is just for political capital,” Fadnavis said.
Last month, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s comments on Savarkar during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Maharashtra had created a rift between the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT). Thackeray had said that he did not agree with Gandhi’s remarks, while adding that his party’s alliance with the Congress was to “preserve freedom”.
Fadnavis further said, “Those who criticise Warkaris, saints, those who don’t know Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birthplace…with what face are these people leading this protest?”
The BJP leader was referring to Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut’s statement that Ambedkar was born in Maharashtra when he was actually born in Madhya Pradesh’s Mhow, and certain statements of Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sushma Andhare that have irked some leaders from the Warkari sect.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: ‘Life caricatured for political gains’ — How Shiv Sena, BJP, Congress have appropriated Savarkar