Slamming the ruling BJP for reviving Ram Mandir issue, MNS chief Raj Thackeray said the Ram temple issue should not be made an issue in the campaign for the 2019 lok Sabha polls.
“I am all for the construction of the Ram temple, but the temple issue should not be used a plank to contest the elections. The BJP is using the Ram Mandir as a tool to fight the 2019 elections. I am totally against Ram Mandir being made an issue in the polls”.
Alluding to the milk producing farmers’ agitation in the state, Thackeray charged that the State Government was promoting firms like ‘Amul’ (Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation ltd) instead of giving Rs 5 per litre subsidy to milk producers in Maharashtra. “All this is happening because the powers-that-be in Maharashtra are busy taking and implementing the orders coming from the Central Government,” he said.
The MNS chief reiterated his opposition to the proposed oil refinery plant in Ratnagiri district in coastal Konkan region. “I was the first to raise a voice against the Nanar refinery. Other political parties have now joined the race. See the irony, there are conflicting views on the issue within the state government. While the BJP is pushing the project, its alliance partner Shiv Sena is opposed to this project,” he said.