'If Maha Guv Koshyari is not removed...': Sharad Pawar's big warning to Centre

New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday (December 17, 2022) joined the protest taken out by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra against the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and demanded the removal of Governor BS Koshyari for "insulting" iconic personalities, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Several senior leaders of the three MVA allies - Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), NCP and Congress - shared the stage after the "Halla Bol" protest march with Sharad Pawar warning Centre that if the governor was not removed, a "lesson" would be taught. Speaking at an event last month, governor Koshyari had dubbed Shivaji Maharaj an "icon of olden times". Earlier this year, he had also passed certain remarks against social reformers Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule.

Addressing the rally, Pawar said, "The governor should be immediately removed for insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Mahatma Phule."

"If the governor is not removed, we will have to take steps to teach them a lesson," the former Union minister added.

आजचा हा मोर्चा एका वेगळ्या स्थितीचे दर्शन करतो. मला आठवते ७० वर्षांपूर्वी संयुक्त महाराष्ट्रात प्रश्नासंबंधी मुंबईमध्ये लाखोंचे मोर्चे निघाले. मराठी भाषिकांचे राज्य व्हावे यासाठी हा उपक्रम यशस्वी झाला. अनेक तरूण पुढे आलेत. अखेर संयुक्त महाराष्ट्राची निर्मिती झाली. pic.twitter.com/ghsnpzmI34 — Sharad Pawar (@PawarSpeaks) December 17, 2022

Pawar said that the competition was on, not for the state's progress and development, but to malign it.

"Maharashtra cabinet minister Chandrakant Patil says B R Ambedkar, Mahatma Phule begged to start schools...Such an insult cannot be tolerated. We have to be united irrespective of our political ideologies to safeguard the state's prestige. If the governor is not removed we have to take steps to decide our future action,' he said.

I don't consider BS Koshyari as governor: Uddhav Thackeray

Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray also joined the demonstration and slammed Koshyari.

"I don't consider Koshyari as governor. The post of governor is a respectable one. I reiterate my demand that criteria be decided on the selection of a governor," he said.

He also accused the Eknath Shinde-led government of being ideologically bankrupt.

"One minister Chandrakant Patil says Phule and Ambedkar begged to collect funds to start schools, while another minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha likens Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's great escape from Agra to Eknath Shinde's rebellion and backstabbing," Thackeray said.

Eknath Shinde govt will not last till February 2023: Sanjay Raut 

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said the governor had no right to continue in office even for a minute.

"This march is a signal that governor Koshyari is dismissed. The Shinde government will not last till February 2023. The morcha is the first step to dislodge the Shinde-led government," he said.

The MVA protest march in Mumbai began near JJ Hospital in Byculla around noon and ended at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai, a distance of around 4 km, where the MVA leaders addressed a rally.

A large number of workers of the MVA partners took part in the protest march. Uddhav Thackeray's wife Rashmi Thackeray and younger son Tejas also joined the foot march. The Samajwadi Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) and other parties also participated.

महाविकास आघाडीच्या महामोर्च्यामध्ये शिवसेना पक्षप्रमुख श्री. उद्धवसाहेब ठाकरे, शिवसेना नेते, युवासेनाप्रमुख,आमदार श्री. आदित्यजी ठाकरे आणि सौ. रश्मी वहिनी ठाकरे लाखो शिवसैनिकांसह सहभागी झाले.#HallaBol #हल्लाबोल #MaharashtraPrem#Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/6MiI3zmE9W — ShivSena - शिवसेना (@ShivSena) December 17, 2022

BJP holds counter-demonstrations 'maafi maango'

The BJP, on the other hand, held counter-demonstrations -- "maafi maango" -- in all the six Lok Sabha constituencies in Mumbai against what it termed the "insult" of Hindu gods and the attempt to create a controversy over the birthplace of B R Ambedkar by leaders of Shiv Sena (UBT).

A bandh was also observed in Thane city and neighbouring Kalyan and Dombivali townships in response to a call given by the Warkari community- devotees of Lord Vitthal- to protest against the alleged objectionable remarks about saints and Hindu deities made by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare.

The bandh call was supported by the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), both currently ruling the state.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis took a dig at MVA and said it was a "nano" protest march, implying a low turnout.

(With agency inputs)