KOLHAPUR: It is time for Congress workers to take to streets and not to attend camps, as 2019 general elections are drawing close, senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said here today.
Chavan's comments came days after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting was held in Delhi.
"Parliamentary elections are not far.
The Congress workers should take to the streets now instead of attending camps," the former Union minister told reporters.
Chavan accused Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of "cheating" the Maratha and the Dhangar communities by promising them reservation.
The Maratha community is agitating for 16 per cent quota in education and government jobs, while the Dhangar community members are demanding ST (Scheduled Tribe) status.
Chavan said the discussion to replace Fadnavis as the CM started in the BJP of late because the party leaders have realised that he is a "failure" on various fronts.
Chavan said he had forwarded to the then Central government a proposal demanding a ban on Hindutva groups like Sanatan Sanstha for their alleged role in the killings of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.
"I had forwarded a proposal for banning these organisations to the then (UPA) government at the Centre.
However, the proposal was set aside by the NDA government after it came to power (in 2014)," he said.
Referring to the recent controversy over Aadhaar helpline number being pre-stored without user consent on certain mobile phones, Chavan said the government should ask Google to pay fine.
"I am not ready to believe that it was a mistake committed by Google.
Why did the UIDAI chief meet Google officials? If this episode (pre-storage of Aadhaar helpline number) was the result of a Google mistake, then the government should ask them to pay fine," he demanded.