BJP's call for a protest insults corona warriors: Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister on Thursday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its announcement of “Maharashtra Bachao Andolan (Save Maharashtra Protest) against the Uddhav Thackeray government. 

The BJP has appealed people to protest outside their house on May 22 to highlight the failure of Shiv Sena-led MVA government in handling COVID-19 situation. Everyone should follow social distancing Normas while protesting, the Maharashtra BJP President added. 

Reacting to BJP’s call for a protest, Ajit Pawar said that this was an insult to the people of Maharashtra as well as those at the forefront in the fight against coronavirus - including doctors, nurses, sanitation workers and police. The BJP’s planned Save Maharashtra protest was an insult to those at the forefront in the fight against COVID-19. 

In a statement, Pawar said that it was no wise to turn one’s courtyard into a battlefield. “When every citizen is a fighting coronavirus, staging a protest instead of giving them strength is an insult of the people of the state and COVID-19 warriors,” the Deputy CM asserted.

In a video message earlier, Maharashtra BJP President Chandrakant Patil urged people to protest wearing black masks, holding a black placard, outside their homes between 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM on Friday. 

Reacting to this Ajit Pawar wondered how could one think of “black protest” during the fight against coronavirus. This protest will not benefit Maharashtra and the BJP, he added. 

Earlier, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis led a delegation to meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and submitted a memorandum to highlight the “inefficient handling” of COVID-19 situation by the Shiv Sena-led MVA government.

Labelling BJP as “anti-Maharashtra”, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said the protest by BJP was not to “Save Maharashtra” but it was anti-Maharashtra. It was expected that the BJP will stand up against the central government for the injustice done to the state and its people in terms of financial aid but it is clear that BJP is not loyal to Maharashtra, he said. 

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