Such tensions can hinder potential investment in state: Patole on MNS rally

Patole said the government should put an end to “the drama that is being run to defame the state.” Maharashtra is a state of law and no one is above the law, he added. On the issue of loudspeakers, he said the government is acting as per the directions of the Supreme Court.

“Anyone trying to create unrest in the state by raking up the issue unnecessarily will not be tolerated. The state’s development is being hampered by creating instability and communal tensions. Raj Thackeray should think about giving employment to the youth instead of inciting them,” Patole said.

Accusing the BJP of using the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief “to cover up for failures of the (PM Narendra) Modi government at the Centre”, he said, “Raj Thackeray should have asked the Central government for an answer but unfortunately, in his speech, there was not a single word on the issues of inflation and unemployment that the common man is facing.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using Raj Thackeray as a puppet, Patole added.

Taking on former CM Devendra Fadnavis for his speech at the BJP’s booster dose rally in Mumbai on Sunday, Patole said it was merely a representation of the saffron party’s desperation to come to power.

“They (the BJP) are now bragging that they demolished the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. If we consider the claim that the mosque in Ayodhya was demolished by the BJP to be true, there is no reason to be surprised,” Patole said.

“The BJP is basically a destructive party; it is a party that destroys, it does not create anything good for anyone. They are in complete contrast to the Congress party, which believes in uniting people and in creating new things,” he added.