MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Monday said the state government must ban public rallies of political leaders trying to stoke communal tension.
His demand came a day after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray said he would be holding a rally on May 1.
Incidentally, at his Gudi Padwa rally on April 2, Thackeray had threatened to counter azaan from loudspeakers atop mosques with Hanuman Chalisa and has also demanded that these loudspeakers be removed by May 3.
"Issues like price rise, which impact people, are being sidelined to create communal disturbances with such statements. The Constitution has given everyone the right to practice one's religion. The Maharashtra government must deny permission to rallies of leaders creating communal tension," Patole told reporters.
He alleged that the Narendra Modi government was unable to tackle rising inflation, unemployment, farm distress and problems of the industrial sector so was diverting people's attention with communal issues.
"I am a Hindu and read the Hanuman Chalisa everyday but I need not advertise my religion. We do not need anyone's permission to pray. Those who criticize other religions in fact do not believe in the Constitution," Patole said.
He said the people were beginning to understand the conspiracy of the BJP as the party could not win a single seat in the bypolls held in several states on April 12.
On Raj Thackeray, Patole said BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had earlier called the MNS chief a stooge, and only the former chief minister can say whose stooge he was.
Riots have taken place during Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and everyone knows which groups were behind these disturbances, but attempts to recreate it in Maharashtra failed due to the efforts of the MVA government, Patole claimed.