The Shiv Sena on Tuesday staged protests in Kolhapur district of western Maharashtra over Karnataka Urban Development Minister R Roshan Baig’s reported threat that memberships of Marathi-speaking elected representatives in his State would be revoked if they raised slogans like ‘Jai Maharashtra’, even as the Devendra Fadnavis dispensation shot off a letter to the Siddharamaiah Government lodging protest against Baig’s utterances.
A day after Baig said his Government proposed to bring in a legislation in the Monsoon session of the State legislature prohibiting the elected representatives of local self-bodies and Karnataka MlAs from raising slogans like “Jai Maharashtra”, the Sena activists staged a noisy demonstration in the Kolhapur bus station and defiled the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses by painting slogans eulogising Maharashtra. The protesters also raised slogans against the Karnataka government over Baig’s statement.
Mumbai and Thane also witnessed protests against Baig’s statement. A group of Swabhimaan activists visited Karnataka Sangh’s office at Matunga in north-central Mumbai wrote slogans like “Jai Maharashtra’ on its notice board. In Thane, activists of MNS painted ‘Jai Maharashtra’ in saffron colour on the KSRTC buses.
“If our Marathi ppl can't say Jai Maharashtra in belgaum thn Karnataka Min shud take all the kannadis bck frm Maha or v start sendin thm bk!,” Congress MlA Nitesh Rane tweeted. Seeking intervention of President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the matter, Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said “This is a Talibani decision. Maharashtra is part of the country... How can saying 'Jai Maharashtra' be an offence in Karnataka. The President and Prime Minister must take cognizance of such statements”.
In a related development, the Maharashtra Government registered a protest with the Siddharamaiah dispensation over Baig’s statement.