Will not rest till I bring down Babri-like structure of your power: Fadnavis warns MVA govt

Mumbai: Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday compared the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to a Babri-like structure and said he would not rest till he brings it down.

"I will not rest till I bring down the Babri-like structure of your power," Fadnavis said.
He chanted Hanuman Chalisa along with other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the party's Mahasankalp Sabha in Mumbai.

"We just chanted Hanuman Chalisa. Would Balasaheb Thackeray have ever thought that reading Hanuman Chalisa during his son's reign would be treason and that visiting the grave of Aurangzeb would be a state etiquette?" said Fadnavis.

"They (Shiv Sena) had a rally yesterday which they called a master sabha but when we were listening to them, it was more like a laughter sabha... Yesterday, it was Kaurava sabha and today it is Pandav sabha", added Fadnavis, describing Uddhav Thackeray's rally as a "laughter show.

In a verbal attack on All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Fadnavis said, "Asadudin Owaisi goes and pays tribute to Aurangzeb on his grave and you keep seeing that, you should feel ashamed of it. Listen to me Owaisi, even a dog will not pee on the identity of Aurangzeb. Saffron will flout in Hindustan."

A row over Hanuman Chalisa and Azaan has heated up the political atmosphere in the state.

Recently, Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana were arrested by the Mumbai police and charged under Sections 124A (sedition) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code after they declared that they would recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Uddhav Thackeray's home in Bandra.

The BJP has come out in support of the Ranas after the Hanuman Chalisa row.

The loudspeakers row started when the MNS chief on April 12 gave an ultimatum to the Maharashtra government to remove loudspeakers from mosques by May 3, failing which, he warned, MNS workers will play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers. (ANI)