Asserting that any insult to Mahatma Gandhi will not be tolerated, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that police will take appropriate action against hardline right-wing activist Sambhaji Bhide for his remarks on Gandhi’s lineage, reported PTI.
The Rajapeth police in Amravati was booked by Bhide on Saturday. Bhide had made the remarks while addressing a gathering at Bharat Mangal Hall in the Badnera Road area of Amravati on Thursday during his Vidarbha tour.
“I fully condemn the statement of Sambhaji Bhide. Mahatma Gandhi is the Father of the Nation and a ‘mahanayak’ of the freedom struggle. Making such a statement against a mahanayak is totally unacceptable,” Fadnavis told reporters in Nagpur.
“I am making it clear that Sambhaji Bhide or anyone else cannot make such statements as it creates anger among people, who will never tolerate such an insult of Gandhiji. Police will take appropriate action in the case,” the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said.
The Rajapeth police have registered the case against Bhide under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 505-2 (making, publishing, or circulating any statement, rumour, or report), Amravati City police commissioner Navinchandra Reddy told The Indian Express.
Reddy also said, “We have the audio recordings of the said event and are analysing the content of the speech. The investigation is on, and all action will be taken in accordance with the law.”
Meanwhile, Fadnavis clarified that Bhide who runs an independent organisation (Shri Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan) has no links to the BJP, and Opposition parties shouldn’t add any political colour to the issue.
He also lashed out at the Congress saying if the party is condemning Bhide’s statement must also criticise Rahul Gandhi for the comments against Hindutva ideologue late VD Savarkar.
Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Prithviraj Chavan had raised the issue in the Assembly on Friday. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole further claimed that Bhide had links to the BJP-RSS and was being protected by them.
He added that the Congress party would hold protests across the state after the Monsoon session of the Assembly is over on August 4, if Bhide is not arrested.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto slammed the BJP claiming its “leniency” had emboldened “rabble rouser” Bhide who routinely came up with such offensive statements.
Meanwhile, supporters of Bhide protested in Amravati on Sunday against Congress MLA and former minister Yashomati Thakur for alleged objectionable comments against the right-wing activist, and later submitted a complaint to police seeking a case against the minister.