Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of his campaign for the Khadakvasla by-election for Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Patil said measures would be taken to ensure protection to the participants of the rally, but stern would be taken if Advani’s rally disturbed peace in the state.
Hitting out at the BJP, Patil, addressing a rally for the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate, said BJP leaders were involved in corrupt practices and so had no right to speak about restricting corruption in the country.
“The BJP should come out with a list of their leaders who took part in the freedom struggle, before claiming that the BJP, as a leading party, was devoted to the country.”
Referring to BJP leader Gopinath Munde’s allegation that NCP candidate Harshada Vanjale was a “hijacked” candidate, Patil said Vanjale had worked as a Congress party worker for several years and that she has even represented the NCP in the Pune District Council. Vanjale’s candidature for the Khadakvasla assembly seat was unanimously decided by the NCP.
Patil said that Munde was upset with BJP’s internal problems and hence was making claims like “hijacking of candidate.” “Instead, Munde should better focus and pay more attention to curb factionalism in his party,” Patil added.
Meanwhile, campaigning for the by-elections came to an end on Tuesday night, with police warning political parties not to resort to text messaging to avoid action.
In another development, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray attacked the Congress and the NCP. In an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna published on Wednesday, Thackeray wrote that the state Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan was “weak” while Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was a “ruffian”.
