Mahayuti fumes over Congress leader’s ‘Fadnavis as cruel as Aurangzeb’ remark

Mumbai:Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Monday questioned if Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal was competent for the post. Accusing the Congress leader of making “pointless statements”, Mr. Pawar said that the state government will check legal provisions and take appropriate action against him for comparing Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis with Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. However, Mr Sapkal said that he only compared the Fadnavis government’s work with the rule of Auranzeb. The legislative council also witnessed pandemonium over Mr. Sapkal’s statement that Mr Fadanvis is as cruel as Aurangzeb..

Addressing a party event in Ratnagiri on Sunday, Mr. Sapkal had said, “Aurangzeb was a cruel ruler. Today, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is an equally cruel ruler. He always takes support of issues related to religion but does nothing about cases like the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.”

Raising the issue in the legislative assembly, BJP legislator Randhir Sawarkar demanded strict action against the Congress leader for allegedly insulting the CM. He pointed out that Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi was recently suspended for the entire budget session for glorifying Aurangzeb and urged Mr. Pawar, who was present in the House, to make a statement.

Lashing out at the newly appointed state Congress president, Mr. Pawar said Mr. Sapkal is making pointless statements only to gain importance in the eyes of his party leaders. He further said that Nana Patole was doing a decent job, but Mr. Sapkal is damaging his own party. “Such statements, in fact, reduce their votes and show their own worth. (Congress leaders) should think if he is even competent for this post,” he said.

Mr. Pawar further informed the state legislative assembly that the remarks will be verified and action will be taken accordingly as per the law.

In the legislative council, BJP group leader Pravin Darekar demanded that a case be filed against Sapkal and strict action be taken to set an example. He said, “Comparing the chief minister, who is governing the state efficiently, to Aurangzeb is a highly condemnable act and an insult to Maharashtra.”

NCP member Amol Mitkari also criticised Mr. Sapkal’s statement. Opposition leader Ambadas Danve expressed his disapproval of personal attacks, but accused the government of having an “Aurangzeb-like mentality”.

Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule assured the Upper House that the government would seriously consider strict action against Mr. Sapkal.

The legislative council proceedings were suspended for 10 minutes following an uproar created by the ruling Mahayuti members.

However the Congress leader denied insulting the CM and said he only pointed out similarities in Mr. Fadnavis’s governance with that of Aurangzeb. “I did not use derogatory language against Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, nor did I address him disrespectfully. Yet, BJP leaders are resorting to personal attacks against me. When I compared the governance of Aurangzeb and Mr. Fadnavis, BJP leaders themselves declared that I was equating Mr. Fadnavis with Aurangzeb,” he said.