Fadnavis govt creating nonsensical controversies to avoid discussion on important issues Congress

Mumbai, Aug 13 (PTI) The BJP-led Maharashtra government was creating controversies on "nonsensical" issues such as pigeon-feeding in cities and sale of meat on Independence Day to divert attention from serious issues, the Congress alleged on Wednesday.
The BJP was "daily stoking" caste-based or communal tensions as part of its political strategy, state Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal told reporters.
The government was engineering "nonsensical" debates to divert attention, the state Congress chief said.

"The Maharashtra government should not tell us what time we should eat meat, what spices or salt we should use; it should not try to control our personal habits, marriages, or our thinking process. Such things have no place in our state, but this government is deliberately doing it," he said.
Instead of instigating "kabutar (pigeon) jihad", the government should take a building from minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha to house pigeons and provide a hospital for the birds, he said, referring to the ongoing debate on whether kabutarkhanas or pigeon-feeding spots in Mumbai should be shut down in view of health hazards.
Lodha, whose family is in the construction business, has opposed an outright ban on kabutarkhanas.
Pigeon droppings and feathers cause serious respiratory infections, said Sapkal, adding that his friend and writer Narendra Lanjewar died of such an infection.
The Congress leader also targeted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
"Former chief minister (late) Vilasrao Deshmukh had set up a Danga Kabu Pathak' (riot control team) as a first responder force to deal with law and order situations in every district. But chief minister Fadnavis has createdDanga Karo Pathak' which visits places like Nashik, Nagpur and Pune to cause social unrest. Now they are doing the same thing in Mumbai," he alleged.
"People have understood the truth behind this 'Kabutar-jihad'," Sapkal added.
More than half of Mumbai's land was given to the Adani group through projects such as Dharavi and Motilal Nagar redevelopment, Sapkal alleged.
On the ban imposed on meat sale on Independence Day in some cities, Sapkal said the BJP wanted to create unnecessary controversies to avoid discussion on its own past, claiming that leaders of the saffron party's predecessor, the Jana Sangh, never took part in the freedom movement but accepted pension from the British.
Asked about NCP leader Dhananjay Munde continuing to stay in his official bungalow after his resignation as a minister, he said, "Munde resigned but his lust for power did not disappear. He may have been given an assurance that he will be re-inducted into the cabinet after some time, so he is still living in the official bungalow."
He also described Fadnavis as the "most helpless chief minister of the state ever" as he could not remove inefficient ministers.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)