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Bharat Mata slogan row: Maharashtra government, Oppn spar in assembly

Alleging that the Opposition was indulging in vote bank politics, Fadnavis said he would "keep saying Bharat Mata Ki Jai even if his chief minister's post was retained or lost".

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Congress and Nationalist Congress Party MLAs protest against the government over the ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ issue at Vidhan Bhavan on Monday
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Weeks after AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan was suspended from the state legislative assembly for refusing to say Bharat Mata Ki Jai, the controversy over the slogan refuses to die down.

After chief minister Devendra Fadnavis sparked off a fresh debate by reportedly saying that those who refused to mouth the slogan had no right to stay in India, the Opposition and the ruling party engaged in a massive war of words in the assembly on Monday.

While the Opposition demanded that Fadnavis apologise for his remarks made at BJP's convention in Nashik, Fadnavis lashed out at the Opposition, accusing it of "purposely trying to create a question mark over minorities". Accusing them of "trying to sow the seeds of division," Fadnavis said, "Minorities were nationalists and said Bharat Mata Ki Jai."

Alleging that the Opposition was indulging in vote bank politics, Fadnavis said he would "keep saying Bharat Mata Ki Jai even if his chief minister's post was retained or lost".

BJP and Shiv Sena lawmakers also objected to some Opposition legislators holding the national flag upside down while protesting in the House and sought action against them. However, the Tricolour was straightened immediately. In discussions marked by adjournments, pandemonium and slogans, Yogesh Sagar (BJP), who was in the chair, said the speaker would examine the footage and take action accordingly.

Leader of the Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil sought that Fadnavis clarify his statement and questioned why lessons in patriotism and sedition were needed. "There is a massive drought and farmer suicides are taking place. To divert people's minds from the government's policies, non-issues are being made into issues," he charged.

In his reply, an aggressive Fadnavis said it was necessary to hear his speech in its entirety. "Bharat Mata Ki Jai is not a controversial issue. It is not a religious slogan," he said, adding that in his speech, he had referred to 500 respected Muslim clerics unfurling the Tricolour and saying the slogan in the urs (religious congregation) at Makhdoom Ali Mahimi dargah at Mahim.

"I said that those who stress that they will not say Bharat Mata Ki Jai and purposely link it to a particular religion have malafide intentions. Those who love the country, be it a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian have no objections saying Bharat Mata ki Jai. People from all communities say it," said Fadnavis, while also referring to poet-lyricist Javed Akthar's speech in the Rajya Sabha, where he had stressed that it was his right to mouth the slogan.

He added that "some people deliberately want division in the country" and that those who did not love the country had no place in it.

"I did not name any religion or caste," said Fadnavis, adding that at the Wagah border with Pakistan, Indian soldiers and visitors on the Indian side said the slogans of Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai regardless of which religion they belonged to.

Fadnavis said he had spoken as the chief minister of Maharashtra and that the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh had only taught him nationalism.

Vikhe accused the government of trying to drive a wedge between two communities and the Opposition later staged a walkout.

Earlier, revenue minister Eknath Khadse's reference to NCP MLA Jitendra Avhad's support for alleged LeT operative Ishrat Jahan's family also sparked off pandemonium with legislators rushing to the well. Education minister Vinod Tawde also questioned if the "Congress was against Bharat Mata Ki Jai?"

"Will the country be run according to the Constitution or the directions of the Sangh?" questioned former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.

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