BJP leader Raj Purohit on Tuesday criticised Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray's dream project -- Mumbai Nightlife saying that it will lead to increase in crime against women.
Under this pilot project, which will begin from January 26, malls and restaurant owners can run their businesses for 24 hours.
When asked about the project, Purohit said, "If the culture of 'alcohol' becomes popular, it'll lead to increase in crime against women and there will be thousands of Nirbhaya cases. Aaditya should think whether such a culture is good for India."
"The people of Mumbai know that I have always opposed the nightlife project. It is not suitable for Indian culture. It will take the youth in the wrong direction and will lead to rape cases. It will lead to a rise in crime against women and create disturbance in law and order. There is not enough police to handle such situations."
"Aaditya must be thinking in a good way but I don't know how he is perceiving this project," he said.
When asked about a possible boost to tourism through the project, the BJP leader said, "I want tourists to visit Ram Temple, Tirupati Balaji Mandir, Ellora and Ajanta, Ganpati temple, etc so there are a lot of places."
"Alcohol is served in countries like the USA, and Europe and they are far ahead than us in this matter. Tourists will not come here to drink alcohol and dance as it is in abundance in those countries. Alcohol here will not lead to an increase in tourism instead it will increase crime against women," the BJP leader said.
"I request that research must be done before implementing something like this, and if possible it should be implemented at select places. It is not a nightlife, instead, it is an alcohol culture. It is a country of Lord Krishna, Lord Rama, Mahavira and Buddha. It is not in our culture to drink wine and dance throughout the night," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )