Is `Karnataka pattern’ acceptable to Uddhav Thackeray, asks Fadnavis

Aurangabad/Mumbai: Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday sought to target his former ally and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray over the decision of the Congress government in Karnataka to drop chapters on RSS founder K B Hedgewar and Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar from textbooks.

Speaking at a rally in Osmanabad, Fadnavis said while the Congress government has removed the names of the heroes who participated in the nation’s freedom struggle from school textbooks, “their names can not be erased from our minds”.

“When the BJP lost elections in Karnataka, MVA leaders Sharad Pawar and Nana Patole said they will implement the `Karnataka pattern’ in Maharashtra. Now Karnataka has decided to remove the names of freedom fighters from books and withdraw a law against forced conversions,” he said.

“I ask Uddhav Thackeray, is this the Karnataka pattern they are going to bring to Maharashtra? Will Uddhav Thackeray tolerate all this? Or he should declare that he has given up Hindutva ideology,” Fadnavis added.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde (who rebelled against Thackeray last year) and the BJP were rejuvenating the Hindutva of Bal Thackeray, he further said.

Earlier, speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Fadnavis said the revision of school textbooks in Karnataka was expected after the Congress returned to power in the southern state.

“The Congress can remove Savarkar and Hedgewar from textbooks but not from the hearts and minds of people,” the BJP leader said.

Speaking at the rally in Osmanabad, Fadnavis also said that various schemes of the BJP-led Union government such as the PM Kisan Bima Yojana, Ayushyaman Bharat, Ujjwala gas scheme, PM Swanidhi yojana and Mudra scheme have benefitted Maharashtra a lot.

“Earlier, the (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government did not give a single rupee for Solapur-Tuljapur-Osmanabad railway though the Centre was ready to fund 50 percent of the project….As the government changed in the state, we wrote another letter, stating that we are ready to contribute for these projects, we have also sanctioned funds for this railway project,” he said.

Ten lakh houses will be constructed for people from OBC communities under the Modi Awas scheme and three lakh of these houses will be constructed this year itself, Fadnavis announced.

India’s economy is growing when many countries are facing recession and neighbouring countries are facing financial crises, he said.

“India’s economy was in the eleventh position earlier. Now it is among the top five. We have also left behind the economy of Britain which ruled us for 150 years,” Fadnavis said.