Published On : Mon, Apr 4th, 2016

‘Fadnavis, who opposed unfurling of tricolour at RSS HQ, should not teach patriotism to others’: Congress

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Vikhe patil and CM Fadnavis
Nagpur:
The Leader of Opposition in State Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil on Monday tried to put the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the dock by saying, “Fadnavis, who strongly opposed unfurling of tricolor at RSS Headquarters in Nagpur 16 years ago, should not dare to teach patriotism to Congress.”
The Congress leader was reacting to the statement of Fadnavis made in Nashik two days back. “Those who don’t chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ should leave this country” was the statement made by the Chief Minister. Vikhe Patil had moved an adjournment motion in Assembly today. Talking to media persons in this connection, he said that the post of Chief Minister is a constitutional post. Therefore, Fadnavis should have taken care of not hurting sentiments of a particular community by making such statement as a Chief Minister. “However, the Chief Minister, while speaking in Nashik, he forgot to make such a statement,” Vikhe Patil said.

“At present, the Muslim community is being targeted deliberately. Their patriotism is being questioned. The Muslim MLA Abdul Sattar has appropriately put up the community’s sentiments of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ issue. The Muslim community members, in order to calm down the atmosphere in the country, have unfurled tricolor at Mahim Dargah. In this situation why the BJP leaders very often demand certificate of patriotism,” questioned the Congress leader.

“In fact, has the Chief Minister right to seek certificate of patriotism from others? The tricolor was not being unfurled at RSS Headquarters since many years after Independence. And when the Congress workers, on January 26, 2000, embarked for unfurling the tricolor at RSS Headquarters, the same present Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and present Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, armed with lathis, had stood at Badkas Square to stop the Congress workers. At that time, both these leaders were MLA and MLC. In this background, it is surprising the Chief Minister is teaching patriotism to others,” Vikhe Patil stated.