Mumbai: BJP has disowned former chief minister Narayan Rane’s demand for the imposition of President's rule in Maharashtra for inept handling of the coronavirus pandemic by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. Former minister and BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar clarified that it was not party’s demand, but was Rane’s personal demand.
Mungantiwar said though the COVID-19 situation in Maharashtra is 'grim', it does not qualify for President's rule. Many BJP legislators, who did not want to be identified, shared Mungantiwar’s views and clearly said the party should not make a demand for the Central rule. Rane on Monday had met Governor BS Koshyari demanding Central rule in the state.
Mungantiwar and the BJP denied it wanted President's rule, but said the state government was not doing enough to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Maharashtra has enough resources but the state government is "not making enough efforts," he alleged.
However, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut hit back at Rane saying that Gujarat’s performance in handling COVID-19 crisis is ‘’worse’’, hence it deserves to be put under Central rule. He alleged that BJP was making all efforts to destabilise the MVA government and thereby pursuing imposition of the Central rule in the state.
Raut said "If you go by the Gujarat High Court''s strictures about tackling of COVID-19 crisis, that state's performance is worse compared to Maharashtra's.
"If President's rule is to be imposed, the Centre should start with Gujarat," Raut said while asserting that the Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra is stable.
NCP leader and minorities affairs minister Nawab Malik accused the BJP of spreading rumours that President's rule will be imposed in Maharashtra.
The state government was strictly adhering to the Centre''s guidelines on combating COVID-19, he said.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat said the state BJP leaders were trying to destabilise the government, but there was no reason to worry about its stability. "BJP leaders in the state are greedy for power. They cannot think of helping the government in the current situation. They are trying to destabilise the government," Thorat added.
