"The Congress and communists are spreading misinformation about CAA and NRC (National Register of Citizens)," the former Maharashtra chief minister said. "I am surprised that our old friends are quiet. They used to say once that illegal Bangladeshis should be thrown out, but now they are quiet," he said, in a dig at the Shiv Sena which now heads the ruling coalition which includes the Congress and the NCP.

The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly also slammed the state government for denying permission for a march from August Kranti Maidan to Lokmanya Tilak's statue at Girgaon beach. "Has this government lost its head?" he asked, invoking the heading of a famous editorial penned by the nationalist leader during British rule.

"Nobody can stop us from supporting the Act until the protest against it stops," he said. The Central government recently decided to give citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian refugees, who faced religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and came to India on or before December 31, 2014.