Days after the ‘letter-war’ between Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar launched a direct attack on the governor on Monday, saying “anybody with self-respect” would not have continued in his post.
His comment came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah took exception to the governor’s letter and said certain words he used could have been avoided.
"After Shah's statement, anyone with self-respect would take a call on whether to continue in the (Governor's) post," said Pawar.
Last week, Pawar had dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he was 'shocked' by the “intemperate language” that the governor had used in his letter to the chief minister over the reopening places of worship. The NCP chief had also said that the tone and tenor used in the letters must always be in keeping with the stature of the constitutional post occupied by the individuals.
In one of his letters to Thackeray on October 12, Koshyari had questioned the chief minister’s ‘Hindutva credentials’ and asked: "Have you suddenly turned secular?"
Responding to this question, Thackeray wondered if to Koshyari Hindutva meant merely reopening places of religious worship and if not opening them was to him being secular.
"Isn't secularism a key component of the Constitution, by which you swore while taking oath as the state governor?" Thackeray asked.
As the issue snowballed into a major political controversy in Maharashtra, Amit Shah on Saturday told a news channel that “Koshyari could have chosen his words better”.
The Shiv Sena said it welcomes Amit Shah’s statement and that the party has put the issue to rest.
