Uddhav Thackeray has left 'saffron flag', turned 'green', says Kirit Somaiya

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya on Monday slammed Uddhav Thackeray over the arrests of party leaders in connection with the violence that broke out in Maharashtra after a rally against Tripura violence.

Speaking to ANI, Somaiya claimed the Chief Minister has forsaken the "saffron flag" and has turned "green".

"For the post of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has left the saffron flag behind and have turned completely green. Now Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena are competing to acquire more and more Muslim vote bank," said Somaiya.

"No investigation has been done against Raza Academy and people associated with it who incited riots in three cities. But when workers of Bharatiya Janata Party or Bajrang Dal came on the road action was taken against them. This is not acceptable," he added.

Speaking about the alleged cases against "friends" of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the BJP leader said, "Pawar's friends are not cooperating with the Enforcement Directorate in the Benami property investigation. Thousands of crore non-transferable transactions by Ajit Pawar Group are coming into fore, a total of 21 hundred crores of fraud is visible so far."

Meanwhile, earlier, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis dared the state's ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to ban Raza Academy in Maharashtra.

"Why does the Raza Academy attack the police only under the Congress government? Before this, the riots in Mumbai and attacks on the police were orchestrated by the organisation. Everybody knows who is behind Raza Academy. I demand the imposition of a ban on Raza Academy. Would Congress do it?" he said.

"We condemn the way the one-sided investigation that is undergoing, a list of people associated with Hindutva groups and BJP are only being arrested irrespective of the fact whether they were present or not present at the spot. If this investigation is not stopped then BJP volunteers will go together and fill in the jails," he added.

Incidents of stone-pelting were reported on November 12 from Nanded, Malegaon and Amaravati in the backdrop of protests staged against the violence that took place in Panisagar in Tripura on October 27.

Tripura Inspector General (IG) Law and Order in-charge Saurabh Tripathi earlier said that fake photos and videos were being widely circulated on social media depicting the violence at Panisagar in Tripura, adding that these were being spread by some "anti-national" and "disturbing" elements.

He said, "No fire incident took place at any mosque in Tripura. The police have registered specific complaints and started probing on whatever had happened. And, regarding the malicious campaign in social media, cases were also registered".

( With inputs from ANI )

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