BJP holds its own rally on R-Day; Fadnavis attacks opposition parties
The BJP's Maharashtra unit organised a "Tiranga Yatra" and dubbed it as "Samvidhan Samman rally" to counter the opposition's "Save the Constitution" (Samvidhan Bachao) march held earlier in the day.
The saffron party's rally started from Chaityabhoomi and concluded at the Kamgar Stadium in Central Mumbai, covering a distance of around 2.5 km.
At the venue, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis addressed a gathering and launched a scathing attack on non-BJP parties over their event that coincided with the Republic Day which marks the coming into force of the Constitution.
"Those who are holding 'Save the Constitution' rally are actually hypocrites. They see only holes in our Constitution which is the soul of the country and fundamental to our democratic existence," he said.
"While
we
are
showing
true
respect
to
the
Constitution
drafted
by
Babasaheb
Ambedkar,
the
opposition
parties
are
fighting
for
their
own
existence,"
Fadnavis
claimed.
He
mocked
the
opposition
parties
and
questioned
the
legislative
strength
of
some
of
them.
"People are wise and they know their (opposition's) hypocrisy. Eighteen parties, some of them not having a single MLA or MLC, could not manage to assemble even 1,800 people," he said.
"While you can see here (at the BJP rally) a huge number of people not only from Mumbai but also other parts of Maharashtra have come on roads to show their solidarity with the Constitution.
This shows our patriotism and commitment towards serving the nation," the chief minister said.
Fadnavis alleged that the opposition parties were enacting a "drama" in the name of the Constitution and trying to hide behind the statute book to mask their "failures".
"Whenever these people come to power, they take oath in the name of the Constitution and then loot the country. What they want to say? Is this so weak that it can be tweaked or broken? No. Not at all. Babasaheb Ambedkar has given us the world's most powerful Constitution," he said.
Before
starting
the
rally,
BJP
leaders
and
workers
visited
Chaityabhoomi,
a
memorial
to
Ambedkar,
the
chief
architect
of
the
Constitution,
and
sought
his
blessings.
Fadnavis
also
spoke
about
his
government's
proposal
to
build
a
memorial
to
the
Dalit
icon
on
the
Indu
Mill
land
in
Dadar.
"When
these
people
(Congress
and
NCP)
were
in
power,
they
offered
the
mill
land
to
builders
and
did
not
bother
to
give
the
same
for
the
Babasaheb
Ambedkar's
memorial.
"However,
when
Modiji
(Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi)
took
charge,
he
handed
over
the
Indu
Mill
land
worth
Rs
3,500
crore
within
three
days
to
(the
state
government)
for
the
memorial,"
he
said.
Fadnavis
also
highlighted
his
government's
mega
farm
waiver
scheme
announced
in
June
last
year
and
attacked
the
erstwhile
Congress-NCP
administration
for
ignoring
farmers.
"You
people
waived
farmer
loans
of
Rs
6,000
crore
in
over
a
decade,
while
we
waived
farmer
loans
(till
now)
worth
over
Rs
23,000
crore
(within
two
years
of
coming
to
power).
"Companies and investors across the globe have shown faith in Maharashtra. We have got investment of more than Rs 1 lakh crore in the last two-three years," he said.
Fadnavis, who attended the World Economic Forum at Davos, said, "Earlier, no head of a foreign country used to pay attention to Indian leaders or prime ministers.
"But
ever
since
Modiji
has
started
representing
India
at
the
global
stage,
there
is
a
scramble
among
international
leaders
to
have
a
photo
session
with
him,"
Fadnavis
said.
Mumbai
BJP
chief
Ashish
Shelar
said
the
opposition
parties
have
no
moral
right
to
hold
"Save
the
Constitution"
rally.
"They should have held such a rally when slogans like 'Bharat Tere Tukde Honge' were raised or when AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi opposed the singing of Vande Mataram," Shelar said.
PTI