Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut slammed Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray during a rally in Pune on Thursday, 5 May, for sharing an old video of Bal Thackeray on his views regarding loudspeakers in mosques.
He also questioned Raj about why such issues were not raised when governments led by Vilasrao Deshmukh, Prithviraj Chavan, and Devendra Fadnavis were in power.
"There is politics over loudspeakers everywhere and some old clips of Balasaheb on his views about loudspeakers in mosques are being shared. Why this issue was never raised for 50 years when Vilasrao Deshmukh, Prithviraj Chavan and Devendra Fadnavis were chief ministers?" Raut said, as per ANI.
He also added that Raj was raking up the issue now because his brother Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister (CM) of Maharashtra.
Raut further said that Balasaheb even accepted a Muslim CM for Maharashtra, and that Abdul Rehman (AR) Antulay was his favourite CM.
"People had asked Balasaheb when Shiv Sena will come to the power, what kind of CM he wants. He had said he wanted CM like Antulay who could take decision instantly and who has a good command over the administration," Raut asserted.
The Video of Bal Thackeray
Raj had taken to Twitter to share a video of late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray in which he says that loudspeakers on mosques should be removed.
"The day my government comes to power in Maharashtra, we will make sure we will end the practice of namaz being offered on the streets. Religion should be something that should not hinder national interest. It should not become a nuisance," the late politician is heard saying during his speech in Marathi.
He further adds, "If Hindu religion is becoming a nuisance in any manner, please come to me with that too, we will take care of it. The loudspeakers on mosques will be brought down."
The MNS chief had shared the video of his father a day after he made an appeal to people to play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers if they heard azan from mosques.
"I appeal to all Hindus that tomorrow, 4 May, if you hear loudspeakers blaring azan; in those very places, play the Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers. That's when they will realise, the hindrance of these loudspeakers," Thackeray had said in a statement on Twitter.
(With inputs from ANI.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)