PUNE/MUMBAI: The Congress should keep its Maharashtra unit chief Nana Patole "under observation" and his "physical and mental health" must be checked for his comment against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said on Monday.
Patole was heard saying in a recent video that he would badmouth and beat "Modi", though he clarified later that he was talking about a goon from Bhandara and not the prime minister.
Facing flak, Patole on Monday reiterated that he didn't intend to insult the PM and alleged that, in fact, the BJP is running a campaign to discredit the PM by linking him to gangsters and holding protests.
Speaking in Pune, Chandrakant Patil said some senior Congress leaders have devised a policy to make comments against someone who is at the helm of the affairs and as part of this strategy, Patole keeps making such statements.
"We will see what needs to be done for his (Patole's) comments against PM Modi but the Congress should keep him under observation. His physical and mental health should be checked. Patole is a good example of what level one can stoop to make such comments," Patil said.
Patole said he had not used any insulting words against Prime Minister Modi.
"I told BJP to stop this (holding protests). However, the BJP is agitating against me and burning effigies. The BJP is, in fact, running a campaign to discredit Prime Minister Narendra Modi by linking him to gangsters," the Congress leader alleged.
Reacting to senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavi's jibe that Patole had lost his mental balance, the Maharashtra Congress president said, on the contrary, Fadnavis has lost his mental balance.
"In Vidarbha, Congress defeated BJP in municipal elections. Due to the defeat, the sand under their feet has shifted. They do not seem to have recovered from this shock," Patole added.
Patil also brushed aside Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's speech on Sunday in which the latter said the 25-year alliance with the BJP was a waste of time, adding that the speech reflected the Sena chief's frustration.
Replying to a statement of minister Aaditya Thackeray that the governor's house had become an 'adda' (den) for BJP leaders, Patil said if the CM is not ready to meet someone who is the state president of a national party, then one has to go to the governor, who is the constitutional head of the state.
"Barring a COVID review meeting here in Pune, I have not met the CM in the last 27 months. We tried a lot but he never meets," Patil said.