Union minister Danve says he wishes to see a 'Brahmin' as Maharashtra CM
Aurangabad/Mumbai (PTI): Union minister Raosaheb Danve has said he wishes to see a Brahmin community member as the chief minister of Maharashtra.
Reacting to it, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said a transgender or an individual belonging to any caste can become the state's CM if he/she has the backing of 145 MLAs (out of 288 Assembly seats in the state).
Danve made the comment on Tuesday night in Jalna while addressing a rally organised by some Brahmin community members on the occasion of Parshuram Jayanti celebration.
A dignitary present in the rally demanded that Brahmins be given more representation in local governing bodies. In response, senior BJP leader Danve said "I just don't want to see Brahmins as corporators or civic body heads, I wish to see a Brahmin as the chief minister of this state."
Danve said he had campaigned in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh for the Assembly elections held in those states (earlier this year).
"So much of casteism has come into politics that it cannot be ignored. But, there should be a leader who can keep communities together," he said.
On Thursday, when a reporter asked Ajit Pawar in Mumbai about Danve's remarks, the deputy CM said, "Anyone can become a chief minister. A tritiyapanthi (transgender) or a person from any caste/religion or any woman can be a chief minister by securing majority of 145 MLAs."
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.
