Days after Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari wrote to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asking him if he had "suddenly turned secular", Shiv Sena attacked the Governor and accused him of acting against the State government.
"Bhagat Singh Koshyari has shown how a person sitting on the post of the Governor should not behave. He may have been a 'Sangh Pracharak' or a leader of the BJP. But today he is the Governor of a progressive state like Maharashtra, he seems to have forgotten this thing at his convenience...Sending a letter by Governor Koshyari to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will be called an unreasonable step," Shiv Sena said an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana.
Sena questioned the timing of Governor's letter to the Chief Minister and accused him of forwarding BJP's agenda.
"The BJP started a protest to open the temples in the State. The Governor was not required to participate in that political movement. As soon as the BJP's movement started, the Governor wrote a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The letter reached the newspapers during the course of its journey to the Chief Minister," the party said.
Sena further clarified its stance of opening bars and restaurants and keeping the temples closed for devotees and said that the restaurants have been opened but only by following the rules completely.
"Nobody enjoys keeping the gods locked; But once a large crowd started coming to the temple, then the crowd of corona-infected people will also increase, the country's Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has also expressed concern," it stated.
Sena questioned the intention of Koshyari and said he is Governor of both Goa and Maharashtra, then why did he only wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister regarding the opening of temples, and not to Goa Chief Minister as well, where most of the important temples are closed for devotees.
"Our Governor is also the Governor of Goa at present. Goa is a true land of Gods. All Devasthans like Mangeshi, Mahalakshmi, Mahalasa are in Goa. This time, the famous Dussehra festival celebrated at Kamakshi Devasthan has also been cancelled... why does Governor Koshyari, who is seeking answers from the Maharashtra government for opening the temple, not ask the same question to Goa's BJP Chief Minister Pramod Sawant?" it asked.
The Governor on Tuesday wrote a letter to Thackeray expressing concerns over the delay in reopening of temples. Koshyari had questioned whether the Shiv Sena leader had "turned secular".
Responding to the Governor, Thackeray had said that the delay in reopening of places of worship is being done due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"As imposing lockdown all of a sudden was not right, revoking it completely at once will also be not a good thing. And yes, I am someone who follows Hindutva, my Hindutva does not need verification from you," Thackeray said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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