Mumbai: Lambasting Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray government for rejecting a proposal for a resolution to honour Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in the state Assembly, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said he never got to see such a "weak and helpless" Shiv Sena.
"We are seeing Shiv Sena for last 25-30years. But never ever got to see such a helpless & weak Shiv Sena. It was Hindu Hruday Samrat Shiv Sena Pramukh Balasaheb Thackeray ji who protested against Mani Shankar Iyer and now just for the greed of power Shiv Sena is sitting with the same party which calls Veer Savarkar ji a Mafi Veer and a rapist," Fadnavis tweeted.
"It is a very painful and shameful day we witnessed in the history of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly," he said. Earlier in the day, the Maharashtra Assembly witnessed an uproar over the issue after Speaker Nana Patole rejected the BJP's demand to have a discussion over the resolution to honour Savarkar.
On the death anniversary of Savarkar, BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar moved a resolution in the Lower House to honour the Savarkar in Maharashtra legislature. "We demanded a resolution to honour the great revolutionary Swatantrya Veer Savarkar but the Shiv Sena has become so helpless in its hunger for power that it is willing to accept the insult," Fadnavis told media after the resolution was rejected.
"Congress magazine called Savarkar mafi-veer and rapist. This magazine should be banned immediately," he said. Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra cabinet minister Aditya Thackeray slammed the BJP for creating ruckus in Maharashtra Assembly over honouring Savarkar and said the BJP government should first give Bharat Ratna to Savarkar.