Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: In what sparked off a political row in poll-bound Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP’s troubleshooter Devendra Fadnavis accused Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi of being surrounded by urban Naxals and anarchist forces leading severe attacks from the opposition Congress.
“Rahul Gandhi is surrounded by urban Naxals and anarchist forces and has transformed into an ultra-Left ideologue and is less of a Congressman. The copy of the Constitution he flaunts has a red cover, not the traditional blue,” Fadnavis said.
The attack from Fadnavis came at a time when Gandhi was in Maharashtra to launch the Congress and Maha Vikas Aghadi (I.N.D.I.A.) opposition bloc's campaign ahead of the polls.
“Red is a beautiful colour… in puja and marriages it could be seen…its auspicious,” state Congress President Nana Patole said.
"If BJP says his (Rahul Gandhi’s) programme is a 'nautanki', it means BJP is scared of him. To associate such a program with 'urban naxals' is an insult to the social organisations. And if you are calling them 'urban naxalites', then the Home Minister should get an inquiry done as to who these 'urban naxals' are. If you insult the social organisations, then they will take revenge in the elections,” Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar said.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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