Ex-CM Fadnavis bats for reopening places of worship in Maharashtra, puts faith in devotees

Addressing the media on Friday, former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis urged the state government to reopen places of worship for devotees. While the Ministry of Home Affairs allowed the reopening of religious places from June 8, the Maharashtra government has retained the restrictions citing the rising number of COVID-19 cases. Contending that people have enough awareness about COVID-19, Fadnavis opined that the religious places will be able to ensure adequate social distancing.

Citing the example of other states who have permitted places of worship to operate, the BJP leader reminded the government that Maharashtra was not distinct from rest of the country. According to him, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government shouldn't have a problem in reopening religious places as it had allowed liquor shops to function. So far, Maharashtra has recorded 7.47 lakh cases, 5.43 lakh recoveries and 23,775 deaths. 

Devendra Fadnavis remarked, "I think that the demand for religious places to be reopened is just. I am confident that the administrators of religious places will ensure proper social distancing measures. As the people are aware, they won't crowd places of worship if opened. Everyone is saying that Maharashtra is not distinct from the country. All other states have reopened places of worship for more than a month. The Centre has given permission to reopen places of worship for devotees. If you have opened liquor shops, then what is the problem in reopening places of worship?"

Read: HC Grants Permission For Muharram Procession In Mumbai

Read: SC Allows 3 Jain Temples In Mumbai To Reopen For Worshipers On Last 2 Days Of Paryushan

COVID-19 crisis in India

Currently, there are 33,87,500 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 25,83,948 patients have recovered while 61,529 fatalities have been reported. At present, there are 7,42,023 active cases. With 60,177 COVID-19 patients getting cured in the last 24 hours, the country's recovery rate stands at 76.28%.

Meanwhile, the case fatality rate has dipped to 1.82%. After 9,01,338 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, the number of tests done in India has increased to 3,94,77,848. The number of COVID-19 testing labs rose to 1564 including 998 labs in the government sector and 566 private labs. 

Read: Mumbai BJP Chief Urges Reopening Places Of Worship, Cites 'need For Religious Support'