Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday hit out at his old alliance partner Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, asking him whether the ‘Karnataka pattern is going to be implemented’ in Maharashtra as well?
In fact, the Congress, which came to power in Karnataka after defeating the BJP, has decided to remove chapters on Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and Hindutva ideologue Veer Damodar Savarkar from the textbooks. At a rally in Osmanabad, Deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis said that the Congress government may have removed the names of personalities who participated in the freedom struggle of the country from the textbooks but cannot erase their names from our hearts and minds.
The Deputy Chief Minister said, ‘When the BJP lost the elections in Karnataka, MVA leaders Sharad Pawar, Nana Patole had said that they would implement the ‘Karnataka pattern’ in Maharashtra as well. Now Karnataka has decided to remove the names of freedom fighters from the books and withdraw the law against forced conversion. He said, ‘I ask Uddhav Thackeray, is this the same Karnataka pattern that they are going to implement in Maharashtra? Will Uddhav Thackeray tolerate this? Or else he should announce that he has renounced the ideology of Hindutva.
He said that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde (who rebelled against Thackeray last year) and the BJP are reviving Bal Thackeray’s Hindutva. Earlier in Mumbai, Fadnavis had said that revision of school textbooks was already expected in the south Indian state of Karnataka after the Congress returned to power there. The BJP leader said, “The Congress can remove Savarkar and Hedgewar from the textbooks, but not from the hearts and minds of the people.”
