Congress wants Maharashtra BJP to comment on UP MP’s warning to Raj Thackeray

The state Congress’s chief spokesperson, Atul Londhe, said, “BJP leaders in the state had supported MNS president Raj Thackeray on the issue of loudspeakers and the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh is busy laying out the red carpet for Raj Thackeray’s visit to Ayodhya. Amid all this, BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh Brijbhushan Pandey has taken a stand that Raj Thackeray will not be allowed to set foot in Ayodhya unless he publicly apologises for his anti-north Indian stance.”

Londhe has demanded that BJP leaders Devendra Fadnavis and Chandrakant Patil clarify their stand on Pandey’s statement.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Londhe said that Thackeray had played politics targeting north Indians. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena workers had beaten up north Indian candidates who came to the state for taking railway exams. Also targeted were poor north Indian hawkers, panipuriwalas, and fruit and vegetable vendors, the Congress leader said.

“As soon as Thackeray took a Hindutva stand and raised the issues of Hanuman chalisa, loudspeaker and maha aarati, the Maharashtra BJP supported him, but do the same BJP leaders accept Raj Thackeray’s anti-north Indian politics?” Londhe said.

“Brijbhushan has demanded an apology from Raj Thackeray. What is the stand of the BJP leaders like Devendra Fadnavis and Chandrakant Patil on that? They should clarify all these issues in public,” he said.