Shiv Sena wants PM Modi, Amit Shah to recall Maharashtra Governor Koshyari.
Days after Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray exchanged curt letters over reopening of religious places, the Shiv Sena on Thursday targeted the former, saying if Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah wish to preserve the 'prestige' of Raj Bhavan, they should recall the Governor.
The party in an editorial published in its mouthpiece Saamana accused the BJP of using the Governor's office to attack an elected government. It said that using the Raj Bhavan to target the government has proved costly for the opposition.
It also justified CM Uddhav's response to Koshyari. “Even the gods must be ringing the temple bells in happiness,” it said. “If the sound of ringing bells has reached Modi and Shah, then they will recall the Governor to preserve the prestige of Raj Bhavan.”
The MVA government has allowed restaurants to open with strict COVID-19 safety protocol, but it has not allowed reopening of temples. The party said that if the BJP wants temples to reopen, then there should be a national policy.
"Several important temples in the country are closed," it noted.
Koshyari, 78, recently wrote to CM Uddhav on reopening places of worship and asked if the Sena leader had suddenly turned 'secular'. "I wonder if you are receiving any divine premonition to keep postponing the reopening of the places of worship time and again or have you suddenly turned ‘secular' yourselves, the term you hated?" Koshyari, an RSS veteran, wrote.
Responding to Koshyari’s letter, CM Uddhav said he does not need a 'certificate' on Hindutva from the Governor. “Do you mean that opening up religious places is Hindutva, and not opening them means being secular? Secularism is a crucial base of the oath you took as Governor. Do you not believe it?” he had replied.
