Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar has said that BJP's Jan Ashirwad Yatra is nothing but a yatra of deceit and they will give their 'aashirwad' in due time.
Speaking to ANI, Pednekar said, "BJP's Jan Ashirwad Yatra is nothing but a yatra of deceit. People are witnessing what they're doing. They will give their 'aashirwad' in due time. If they really want to work, then they should provide COVID vaccines for people."
She was speaking at the event of Raksha Bandhan wherein she tied Rakhis to COVID frontline workers including doctors, nurses and police personnel.
Mumbai police registered 7 new FIRs against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers for allegedly violating COVID-19 protocols during the Jan Ashirwad Yatra of Union Minister Narayan Rane in different parts of Mumbai.
Yesterday, police had filed 17 new FIRs against BJP's rally in Mumbai for flouting COVID-19 norms. Till Friday, 19 FIRs were registered against the BJP leaders and workers in different police stations of Mumbai and with the new cases being filed the total number of FIRs registered has risen to 36.
These 17 FIRs were registered in Mulund, Ghatkopar, Vikhroli, Bhandup, Pant Nagar, Khar, Santacruz, Powai, MIDC, Saki Naka, Meghwadi, Goregaon, Charkop, Borivali and MHB police stations in Mumbai.
Rane on Thursday began his Jan Ashirwad Yatra in Mumbai despite the restrictions from the Mumbai Police. Many opposition leaders objected to the rally in view of the ongoing pandemic in the state.
Earlier on Friday, Congress leaders Ashok Chavan and Bhai Jagtap had slammed BJP for disregarding the pandemic situation in the state and holding the rally. Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde had also refuted BJP's claims of the Maharashtra government targetting their party and asserted that Covid-19 guidelines must be followed by all the people irrespective of their political background.
Rane himself on Friday condemned the Maharashtra government for its failure to tackle the pandemic situation in the state and said he would continue his rally despite FIRs fired against his yatra.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 4,575 new coronavirus cases and 145 deaths on Saturday while 5,914 patients recovered from the viral infection, a health department official said.
The state's COVID-19 caseload thus rose to 64,20,510, while the death toll increased to 1,35,817, he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
