The Congress on Friday asked Maharashtra BJP leaders to make clear their stand on a warning given by a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh that MNS chief Raj Thackeray will not be allowed to visit Ayodhya unless he apologised to north Indians.
Maharashtra BJP, however, said Kaiserganj MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's statement wasn't the party's official stand.
The Congress, which shares power with the Shiv Sena and NCP in Maharashtra, also accused the BJP of using Raj Thackeray, independent MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana as its "puppets".
The BJP has supported Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray's demand that loudspeakers should be removed from mosques in the state.
Thackeray recently also announced that he would visit Ayodhya on June 5.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a BJP MP who was one of the leaders of the Ram temple movement, tweeted on Thursday that he will not allow Thackeray, "who humiliates north Indians", to enter Ayodhya.
"Before coming to Ayodhya, Raj Thackeray should apologise to all north Indians with folded hands," he said.
Maharashtra Congress's chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said on Friday that while the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh is busy rolling out the red carpet for MNS chief's Ayodhya visit, the party's MP wants apology from him.
Maharashtra BJP leaders Devendra Fadnavis and Chandrakant Patil should make clear their stand on the UP MP's statement, Londhe said.
Raj Thackeray has targeted north Indians in the past, and his party workers have beaten up north Indian candidates who came for railway exams and harassed north Indian hawkers, sellers of snacks like pani-puri as well as fruit and vegetable vendors, he said.
But as soon as Raj Thackeray supported Hindutva politics and raised issues like loudspeakers at mosques, the Maharashtra BJP supported him, Londhe said.
"Do the same BJP leaders accept Raj Thackeray's politics against north Indians? BJP MP Brij Bhushan has demanded an apology from Raj Thackeray. What is the stand of BJP leaders like Devendra Fadnavis and Chandrakant Patil on that?" the Congress spokesperson asked.
"Mumbai is the financial capital of the country and everyone has a constitutional right to earn a living in this city. Congress and its government have always protected this right," Londhe added.
The BJP has always pitted one community against another, he said, accusing the saffron party of trying to create instability in Maharashtra "by using Ravi Rana, Navneet Rana and Raj Thackeray as puppets."
The Ranas were arrested by Mumbai Police last month when they announced that they would recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's residence in Mumbai.
Speaking to reporters in Kolhapur, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil distanced the party from Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's statement.
“The MP made those comments in his personal capacity. Seeking apology from Raj Thackeray is not the BJP's official stand. The MP will be summoned by the party (to seek explanation)," he added.