Maha DyCM slams BJP over planned protest amid COVID-19 crisis

Hitting out at the BJP over its plan to hold a protest on the state government's "failure" in tackling the COVID-19 outbreak, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said there was no wisdom in turning one's courtyard into a battlefield during a crisis. Pawar said the BJP's planned "Maharashtra Bachao" (Save Maharashtra) protest is an insult of the people of the state and doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, policemen and others, who are at the forefront of the fight against COVID- 19. Claiming the Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra has "failed" to check the spread of coronavirus and the rising fatalities unlike Kerala, the BJP on Wednesday appealed to people to register a protest on May 22.

"There is no wisdom in turning one's courtyard into a battlefield. Today, the doctors, nurses, paramedical staffers, sanitation workers, police and every citizen is fighting coronavirus," Pawar said in a statement. "So, staging protests instead of giving them strength is nothing but an insult of the people of the state and the COVID-19 warriors," the senior NCP leader said. Noting the BJP workers' plan to use black placards and masks to mark their protest, Pawar wondered how come one can think of such a "black protest" amid the fight against COVID- 19. "This is an untimely, enigmatic protest. This protest will not benefit Maharashtra and the BJP," he added.

Maharashtra Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat also tore into the BJP, saying the "Maharashtra Bachao" protest is in fact "Save BJP" agitation and a "farce" aimed at underscoring the existence of the party "which was not seen anywhere" in the fight against the disease. Thorat, who is the state unit chief of the Congress, said that the BJP's position is contradictory to its leader Devendra Fadnavis's statement no politics should be played amid the crisis. Thorat alleged that instead of helping the state, Fadnavis chose to contribute money to the PM Cares Fund (for COVID-19 relief work) and said the latter's loyalty rested with the BJP leaders in Delhi and not the state. "How come the BJP leaders think of politics during a crisis situation? The BJP's behavior in this hour of crisis is nothing but Maharashtradroh (treason with Maharashtra)," he alleged.

(Image credits: PTI)