Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat has accused Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of inciting religious discord through the dissemination of "fake news." Thorat's remarks followed Shinde's claims that the Congress government in Karnataka was attempting to restrict Ganesh festival celebrations.
Shinde also criticized the opposition for focusing on the collapse of a Shivaji Maharaj statue in Sindhudurg while ignoring allegations of Karnataka police mishandling a Ganesh idol.
Thorat contends that Shinde and Fadnavis are engaging in "fake news factories" by spreading false narratives, including a previous controversy over remarks attributed to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that were not made.
He condemned the attempt to generate religious discord through misleading information about Karnataka and predicted that both the fake narrative and the government would be rejected by the people of Maharashtra.