Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde's ‘Jai Gujarat' slogan in front of Amit Shah in Pune triggers row; opposition hits out, he says it was to respect Gujarati community
PUNE: Deputy CM
Eknath Shinde
on Friday raised a 'Jai Gujarat' slogan in the presence of Union home minister
Amit Shah
at an event of a Gujarati organisation in Pune, triggering a fresh controversy amid the language row in the state. While concluding his speech, Shinde raised the slogan 'Jai Hind, Jai
Maharashtra
'.
After a brief pause, he added 'Jai Gujarat', drawing flak from opposition parties.
Shah attended the event of Pune Gujarati Bandhu Samaj and inaugurated the Jairaj Sports and Convention centre in Kondhwa. Lauding the contribution of the Gujarati community to the development of the state and country, Shinde said, "Maharashtra and Gujarat have always shown the path of development to the country. The business community's contribution to Maharashtra's development is immense, and we will ensure they do not face any issues while carrying out their businesses in the state.
" The Sena neta then raised the slogan.
The opposition slammed Shinde, alleging he had made the statement to please Shah and "insult" Maharashtra
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Dy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar accompanied Union home minister Amit Shah at the event where Shinde gave the 'Jai Gujarat' slogan. Shah, in his speech, said, "Wherever Gujaratis have gone in the world, they ensure not to get involved in any controversy. They adopt the culture of the place and become an integral part of society."
The opposition criticised Shinde, alleging he wanted to please Shah and "insult" Maharashtra. Shinde said he uttered 'Jai Gujarat' because people from the Gujarati community were present at the event. "After my speech, I said 'Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra, Jai Gujarat'. Jai Hind is the pride of our country. I said 'Jai Maharashtra' because we are proud of Maharashtra and 'Jai Gujarat' because the Gujarati community, together, had built a sports complex there," he said.
Shinde showed reporters a video of Uddhav Thackeray saying 'Jai Gujarat' at a rally and referred to a poster of Aaditya Thackeray during the election in Worli saying 'Kem Cho Worli.' He read out another line in Gujarati, 'Jalebi aur fafda, Uddhav Thackeray aapda' which, he said, was on UBT Sena's website.
CM Devendra Fadnavis said, "Just because Shinde said Jai Gujarat, it doesn't mean he loves Gujarat more than Maharashtra.
Such parochial thinking doesn't behove the Marathi manoos." He said when a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji was unveiled at Chikodi in Karnataka, Sharad Pawar had said 'Jai Maharashtra, Jai Karnataka'. "Does it mean Pawar loves Karnataka more and Maharashtra less?" Fadnavis asked.
But Ajit Pawar, who was with Shinde at the event, said he did not hear the comment. "I do not know about the issue. I attended two programmes of Shah and left Pune.
Till the time I was there at the event, I do not remember anything of this sort happening there," Pawar told reporters in Kolhapur later in the day.
Shinde said, "Those who criticise us should first look within themselves... Pakistani flags were seen during LS polls, where did the Marathi love go then? Marathi is our identity and Hindutva is our soul. We have worked to grant Marathi the status of a classical language. No compromise with the Marathi language."
(Inputs from Chaitanya Marpakwar and PTI)
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