After skipping the all-party meeting called by state Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil on Monday, Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis said that he didn't attend the meet in view of the recent incidents of alleged violence that took place on the BJP leaders in the state.
Fadnavis alleged that the state government has "taken the role of Hitler" and therefore the BJP will "fight instead of communicating".
Addressing the media here, the BJP leader said, "We received an invitation from Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil for an all-party meeting today, but we didn't go in view of what has happened in the last few days. If someone has taken the role of Hitler, we felt it's better to fight instead of communicating."
Fadnavis warned the Maharashtra government against slapping sedition charges against MP Navneet Rana and his husband Ravi Rana who were arrested recently and dared the government to charge them with sedition when they will all chant Hanuman Chalisa.
"The Maharashtra government wants to crush and kill Opposition. Will Hanuman Chalisa be spoken in Pakistan, if not in Maharashtra? If sedition charges get imposed on Navneet and Ravi Rana, we will all chant Hanuman Chalisa. If the government has the guts, try charging us with sedition," he said.
Fadnavis further hit out at the Uddhav Thackeray-led government for "questioning the High Court" and said that the court is calling the cases against the BJP leaders "bogus".
"If they feel that by doing such attacks they will stop our fight against corruption, then it is their mistake. BJP leaders are being implicated in fake cases. If the High Court is calling those cases bogus, then they are questioning the High Court itself," he said.
Alleging that the incidents are taking place "at the behest of the Chief Minister", Fadnavis said that there is no use in going to the Home Minister's meeting under such a situation.
"In such a situation, what is the use of going to the Home Minister's meeting? Whatever is happening in Mumbai is happening at the behest of the CM. In such a situation, if the CM himself is not present in today's meeting, then what is the use of it?" he said.
The LoP said that the BJP would plan its strategy if the state government does not follow the orders of the Supreme Court.
"I request NCP workers to come and chant Hanuman Chalisa with me in front of my residence. We will continue to recite Hanuman Chalisa always. We want to see if this government follows the orders of the Supreme Court, if not, we will plan our strategy," he said.
Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed a petition moved by Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana and her husband MLA Ravi Rana for quashing the FIR registered against them for allegedly assaulting the police officer who came to arrest the couple.
The police took the action against the couple after they threatened to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's private residence in Mumbai.
( With inputs from ANI )
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