The row between Maharastra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari continued on the day of Dussehra, when the CM Thackeray attacked the Governor in his Vijayadashami address, advising him to follow RSS chief and patriarch Mohan Bhagwat.
CM Thackeray without naming the Governor said that Maharashtra government was being questioned for not opening religious places while other BJP ruled states were not being questioned. He said, “You are talking about our Hindutva. So in Maharashtra, you are putting a ban on beef, but in Goa you are okay with beef. Is this your Hindutva?”
The CM was hitting back one of the most controversial issues for which the BJP has been accused of having double standards by its critics.
Uddhav Thackeray citied RSS chief and BJP ideological mentor Mohan Bhagwat and attacked Koshyari for questioning his government. He said, “Mohan Bhagwat said Hindutva is not linked only to pujas. So people wearing black cap and questioning our beliefs and calling us secular should listen to Bhagwat’s speech today.”
He further added, “People who believe and follow him wear a black cap. If you have brain beneath it, at least follow him (Mohan Bhagwat) and his statements”
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat Vijadashmi address in which he said that Hindutva “has been distorted by appending a ritualistic connotation to it”.
He said, “Sangh does not use it to refer to this misconception. To us, it is the word expressing our identity along with the continuity of its spirituality-based traditions and its entire wealth of value system in the land of Bharat.”
CM Uddhav Thackeray and Governor exchange of words was on opening of places of worship and earlier this month Mr Koshyari asked if Mr Thackeray had “turned secular”.
The Governor wrote a letter in which he said it was “ironical” that bars, restaurants and beaches were allowed to open in the state but “our Gods and Goddesses have been condemned to stay in the lockdown”.
“I wonder if you are receiving any divine premonition to keep postponing the reopening of places of worship time and again or have you turned ‘secular’ yourselves, a term you hated?” he said in his letter.
Mr Thackeray said that he did not need a Hindutva certificate from anyone and would look at this issue and take a call on it looking at all scenarios.
In the recent days, Governors have been at odds with Chief Ministers of opposition-ruled states and Union Territories. Like, in Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankar has been a strong critic of the Mamata Banerjee government and the two have had heated exchange on social media platforms and otherwise.