By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, Oct. 14:
While BJP has launched an agitation to demand the reopening of places of worship, an acrimonious exchange of words has erupted between Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari over the issue.
On Monday, the Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari wrote to Uddhav Thackeray “requesting him to announce forthwith” the reopening of places of worship with Covid precautions. The places of worship, are shut since the coronavirus lockdown in March.
In a sarcasm-filled letter the Governor asked the CM whether he had “turned secular”. “You have been a strong votary of Hindutva. You had publicly espoused your devotion for Lord Rama by visiting Ayodhya after taking charge as Chief Minister. You had visited the Vitthal Rukmini Mandir in Pandharpur and performed the puja on Ashadhi Ekadashi,” Koshyari wrote. I wonder if you are receiving any divine premonition to keep postponing the reopening of places of worship time and again or have you turned ‘secular’ yourselves, a term you hated?.
The governor reminded the CM that other cities had reopened such places in June and there had been no reports of a surge in Covid-19 cases. The Governor also called it “ironical” that bars, restaurants and beaches were allowed to open and “our Gods and Goddesses have been condemned to stay in the lockdown”.
In response Thackeray shot back saying that he did not need a Hindutva certificate from anyone. He reminded the Governor that the reopening of temples or delaying it “is not a question of secularism” and questioned whether Koshyari had forgotten his own constitutional oath. “Have you forgotten that you also swore by the constitution that also has the word ‘secular’. Are you rejecting it?..Is reopening temples not secular and keeping them closed secular?”. He said he would take a decision after careful consideration. “You said I am getting divine premonitions? Maybe you get them but I am not so big,” he wrote back in Marathi.
Koshyari had written about representations from delegations demanding that places of worship be reopened. Thackeray pointed out that all three letters referred to were from BJP office-bearers and supporters.
This is the second opposition-ruled state where a politically-active Governor has taken on the Chief Minister. In Bengal, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has been a relentless critic of Mamata Banerjee’s government and he has made it clear on social media.
In the meanwhile Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi complaining about the conduct of the Maharashtra Governor. He raised concerns about Koshyari’s alleged use of “intemperate language” in his letter to Maharashtra CM regarding the demand to reopen places of worship. While acknowledging that free exchange of views must take place between the Governor and the CM, he stressed that the tone and tenor used must suit the stature of the constitutional position occupied by the individual.
To buttress his point, he quoted two specific instances from the letter which raised questions on Thackeray’s stance on Hindutva and secularism. Pawar contended that it is almost impossible to maintain a safe distance between people due to the huge crowds at shrines even on normal days. Lauding the PM’s slogan of ‘Do Gaj Ki Doori’, the NCP chief pointed out that the Maharashtra government had embarked on the ‘My Family, My Responsibility’ campaign to educate people on COVID-19 prevention norms. At present out of 15,35,315 confirmed novel coronavirus cases, 12,81,896 patients have recovered, while 40,514 fatalities have been reported in Maharashtra.
