Mumbai's next mayor will be 'Hindu-Marathi' and from ruling Mahayuti: Fadnavis
Mumbai (PTI): As political campaigning heats up for the city's top civic post, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday that the next Mayor of Mumbai will come from the ruling alliance and will be "both Hindu and Marathi."
His comments come as the push for the important Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections builds, with polling set for January 15 and results to be announced on January 16.
“The Mumbai mayor will be from the Mahayuti (BJP-led ruling alliance). The Mumbai mayor will be a Hindu and a Marathi person,” Fadnavis said, responding to a question.
The issue had snowballed after Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam recently remarked that his party would not allow any "Khan" to become the city's mayor, triggering sharp reactions from the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
After uniting with Sena (UBT) chief and his cousin Uddhav Thackeray recently, MNS president Raj Thackeray had declared that "Mumbai's mayor will be Marathi, and he will be ours".
Fadnavis has now sharpened his party BJP's pitch by stating that Mumbai will have a Hindu and Marathi mayor, further intensifying the political sparring as campaigning for elections to the 227-member municipal corporation, India's biggest and richest civic body, gathers pace.
The BJP Chief Minister made the remarks while speaking to ‘Mumbai Tak’ news channel during an interaction, titled ‘Mahachavadi’, as he travelled on the city’s underground Metro line and answered questions on a range of political issues.
About a query concerning former state minister and his party colleague Kripashankar Singh’s reported comments about a north Indian becoming the mayor, the CM said, “Singh had not made the remark in the context of Mumbai. He is not even an official party spokesperson.”
Singh said on Wednesday that efforts would be made to ensure the election of a “north Indian and Hindi-speaking” mayor in the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
Elections to 29 municipal corporations in the state, including the BMC, will be held on January 15.
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CT Ravi seeks impartial probe into Ballari clash, firing incident
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Chikkamagaluru: Legislative Council member C.T. Ravi on Friday called for an impartial and fair investigation into the banner-related clash and firing incident that occurred in Ballari.
Speaking to reporters in Chikkamagaluru, Ravi said the incident must be investigated thoroughly without prejudice or hatred influencing the probe. He said it was important to clearly establish who opened fire and who was responsible for the killing.
Referring to Valmiki Jayanti celebrations, Ravi said it was the BJP government that began officially observing the occasion, while the Congress, he alleged, had earlier denied the existence of Lord Ram and indirectly questioned the legacy of Valmiki. He recalled that during the Ram Setu case, the Congress had told the Supreme Court that Ram was a fictional character and not a historical figure.
On the Ballari incident, Ravi said registering cases or taking action with malicious intent was not appropriate. He added that whether banners were put up with permission or without it, forcibly removing them was wrong. If banners had been erected without permission, a complaint could have been filed instead.
Ravi also questioned how the government could justify people going near the residence of G. Janardhan Reddy to display strength. He said these circumstances suggested that the banner issue may only have been a pretext and that there could be other factors behind the violence.
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