Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday accused BJP of creating drama by visiting Delhi to meet with the Union Home Secretary over an alleged attack by Shiv Sainiks on Kirit Somaiya. "A delegation with 2-4 people is going to Delhi about what happened in Maharashtra. Someone bled a little, if you have a problem, meet the Maharashtra CM, but you're going to Delhi, what is this?’’ he questioned.
Referring to Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, he said, "UP saw 17 rape & murder cases in 3 months, so the state will handle the law and order itself. Yogi Ji is efficient enough. Similarly, Maharashtra is under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray, so they should approach him. These people are insulting Maharashtra, making a drama", he said.
Raut took to Twitter and lashed out at BJP. ‘’BJP leaders ask whether reading Hanuman Chalisa is against law in Maharashtra. No Sir. Absolutely not! But using Hanuman Chalisa for politics and inciting violence in its name is. Chalisa is read in temples or before the idol. Reading it on roads is against religion. Not sedition, it’s blasphemy by BJP,’’ he claimed.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena in an editorial in Saamna claimed that BJP in its desperation to topple the MVA government is the mastermind behind the Hanuman Chalisa controversy. ‘’The recent controversy initiated by the BJP in the name of Hindutva cannot be supported. The BJOP is behind it. BJP had planned to disturb the peace of Mumbai using Rana couple and everything happened on their instructions that led to an angry reaction from the Shiv Sena activists and the Rana couple was not allowed to step outside their home,’’ the Saamna editorial said.
It further claimed that BJP was dancing at the behest of the Rana couple over Hindutva and Hanuman Chalisa issues especially when their ideological affiliation was under question.
