Loudspeaker issue a 'closed chapter'; talk about inflation, unemployment: Sanjay Raut tells BJP
Mumbai(PTI): Calling the issue of loudspeakers a "closed chapter", Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said instead of speaking on that topic, the BJP should talk about rising inflation and unemployment as these are the challenges being faced by the people.
"Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) and top BJP leaders don't speak of the issue of inflation and unemployment. Their issues are different. They only speak on what police in Punjab and Maharashtra are doing," Raut told reporters here.
The issue of loudspeakers is a closed chapter as attempts to create Hindu-Muslim divide over it have failed, he said.
It is the Hindu community that has faced the biggest setback as far as the issue of loudspeakers is concerned, the Sena MP added.
"Attempts were made to incite tension between Hindus and Muslims by raising the demand to ban loudspeakers on mosques. But people are wise. The Supreme Court's directives on loudspeakers are being implemented. There should be a national policy on loudspeakers," Raut said.
No one is ready to speak on inflation. People of the country are grappling with issues like price rise and unemployment. But no BJP leader is speaking on it, the Sena's chief spokesperson said.
Even since Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray demanded the removal of loudspeakers from mosques in his rallies held last month, it has become a hot button issue in the state and other parts of the country. The BJP has supported his demand.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
