Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis also says Congress ‘cooked up’ term Hindu terror for vote-bank politics when terrorism was at his state’s doorstep.

Mumbai: The remarks of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur – the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal and a key accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast – late IPS officer Hemant Karkare were “very wrong”, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has told ThePrint.

Thakur had said Karkare — who had investigated Pragya’s role in the Malegaon blasts two months before he died during the 26/11 Mumbai attack — was killed because she had cursed him.

“Hemant Karkare was a very brave police officer in Maharashtra, he gave his life for the country,” Fadnavis told ThePrint in an interview late on Friday, three days before the final phase of voting in Maharashtra on 29 April.

“Sadhvi may have her own complaints. She can express them at the right place in the right way. But, using such words against Hemant Karkare, who the entire country respects as shaheed, is wrong,” he said. “It is good that Sadhvi also took her statement back and apologised. But in the first place, this kind of statement should not have been made.”

Fadnavis also said he would advise Pragya to speak with caution as the entire media is watching her and eager to create a controversy from her statements when his attention was drawn to her claims of cow products curing her breast cancer.

‘Terror has no religion’

Fadnavis said the BJP not just debunks the term ‘Hindu terror,’ but always believes in the ideology that “terror has no religion.”

He said the Congress “cooked up” the term Hindu terror for vote-bank politics at a time when terrorism was at the doorstep of states such as Maharashtra and investigating agencies were cracking down on youngsters, mostly from the minorities.

“There was anger within the minority community that their children are being targeted. Those who are wrong should be caught, but if people are being caught without any substance then that should be rectified. Instead of correcting what was happening, they (the Congress-NCP) tried to create a counter-narrative of Hindu terror. This was not a demand by Muslims. This was simply vote-bank politics,” Fadnavis said.

He added the basic tenet of Hindutva is tolerance and those who are not tolerant cannot be a Hindu.

Also read: BJP, Shiv Sena are losing sleep over Raj Thackeray though he’s not contesting this election

‘National security is key issue’

Fadnavis said national security is a key election issue for the BJP and the Congress and its allies don’t want to make it a poll issue as it puts them on a “weak wicket, creating question mark before them”.

“If America’s election can be on whether there should be a wall on the border, if UK elections can be on Brexit, if elections in all of Europe can be on the issue of refugees, why are we so concerned if elections happen on the issue of national security in India?” he asked.

The CM said while the BJP leaders are largely focusing on the development agenda in their campaign speeches, national security too deserves discussion.

The CM said the 1972 election was fought on the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was hailed as ‘Goddess Durga’.

“Now, Indiraji didn’t go on the border and fight, but nobody objected because she was leading the country. If our politicians could praise Indiraji with an open mind at that time, why are their minds narrow now? What they could not do, Modiji has done. So, we will speak about it.”

Fadnavis said, “Congress and its allies won’t make national security an election issue as it creates a question mark before them. It puts them on a weak wicket.”

‘No attempts to politicise the army’

Fadnavis said there has been no attempt to politicise the armed forces during the BJP’s campaign, even as comments such as ‘Modiji ki Sena’ are debatable.

“See, one phrase, ‘Modiji ki Sena’ was said. After that, he (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath) also gave a justification. A lot of times people say ‘Modi sarkar’ though the government is of the country, but its head is Modiji,” the CM said.

He added, “Whether it should be said or not can be debated, but it was said once and it became an issue. Everyone is not saying that. Or this is not being said every time.”

The CM said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to first-time voters to dedicate their votes to Pulwama martyrs was also completely justified.

“Why can’t this be an appeal to the country’s new voters that vote for your martyrs, the country’s security is an important issue. You are the country’s future…What is wrong with that? It is absolutely right,” Fadnavis said.

He also said that his remarks about strapping Congress leaders on missiles fired in Balakot were made in a lighter vein simply for the purpose of making a speech colourful. The opposition had criticised his remarks, saying that such comments lower the standards of political campaign.

Fadnavis said, “If you hear my speech, I say that I am saying this in jest, that had we known earlier that they (Congress leaders) are going to ask for proof, some leaders could have been strapped with the missiles. People laugh at it.”

“People often ask why today’s speeches are not liked by everyone like in the old days. How will they be? In a speech there is exaggeration, there is satire, laughter, sarcasm. Now today if anyone delivers a speech like that he is trolled, channels do it too, you all do it too,” he added.

Also read: Appalling how many justified Pragya Thakur’s Karkare remark with twisted logic: IPS officer

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