Like Mughals...Cong leader Sapkal alleges Fadnavis 'shielding' controversial ministers; BJP hits back

Thane/Mumbai, Oct 11 (PTI) Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal on Saturday accused Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of encouraging misrule by protecting controversial ministers and likened his governance to the erstwhile Mughal era.

The remarks drew sharp criticism from the BJP, which accused Sapkal of carrying forward the ideas of General Dyer, a British general remembered for his role in the massacre of Amritsar in 1919. The saffron party also termed Sapkal as "mentally enslaved" to Italy.

Sapkal's criticism comes after Fadnavis on Friday said no arms licence had been issued to Sachin Ghaywal, brother of gangster Nilesh Ghaywal, who is believed to have fled the country amid a probe by Pune police into a firing incident linked to road rage.

The alleged issuance of an arms licence to Sachin Ghaywal despite objections by the Pune Police has been raked up by the opposition, which has accused Minister of State for Home, Yogesh Kadam, of irregularities.

"The chief minister had become the leader of ministers who commit misdeeds, fostering a chaotic environment....'Do whatever you want, Fadnavis is with you'....Just as Mughals were there before, now Fadnavis shahi (monarchy) has come to the state," Sapkal alleged while speaking to reporters after staging a sit-in protest outside Deputy Police Commissioner's Office in Kalyan.

Congress workers demonstrated against the attempt to hurl a shoe at Chief Justice of India BR Gavai in a courtroom by a lawyer, and alleged insult to a Congress worker.

"The attempted shoe attack is an insult to the highest institution (Supreme Court) and Constitution," Sapkal said.

He also reiterated that the state government should grant a loan waiver for farmers.

Local BJP workers last month allegedly forced a Congress functionary to wear a saree in public after he shared a morphed photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media.

The Congress demanded that the police immediately register a case under the Atrocities Act against BJP functionaries involved in humiliating the Congress functionary.

Slamming Sapkal, Maharashtra BJP media chief Navnath Ban said the Congress leader is carrying forward the ideas of General Dyer.

"General Dyer fired bullets at Indians, and in the same way, Sapkal is now spreading poison through his words", Ban said.

He said that attacking the BJP or nationalist leaders such as Fadnavis amounts to an attack on patriotism.

"Such people are still mentally enslaved to Italy. Their minds do not hold the idea of Hindustan, but only the court of Sonia Gandhi," Ban told PTI .

Ban further said that Maharashtra will not forgive those who target Fadnavis, as Maharashtrians have a strong sense of self-respect.

"People will neither accept General Dyer nor those like Harshvardhan Sapkal. People of Maharashtra will respond to these so-called slaves of Italy through the ballot in a democratic manner", he added and described Fadnavis as a symbol of pride of farmers, people, and this land. PTI COR ND NSK