Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray today ripped into the BJP over their attempts to dilute his party's Hindutva credentials in the backdrop of the row over azaan and hanuman chalisa and the use of loudspeakers. Tagging the BJP "bell-ringing Hindutvawadis" he said, "If you want to chant Hanuman Chalisa, do it... But if you do Dadagiri, then we know how to break it up... We will show you what Bheema Roop and Maha Rudra is if you challenge the Shiv Sena... Our Hindutva is as strong as Gadadhari Hanuman".
"For the last few days, they (the BJP) have been screaming that the Shiv Sena has left Hindutva. What have we left? Is Hindutva a dhoti? That we put it on and take it off? We must remember one thing. Those who are lecturing us on Hindutva must ask themselves what they have done for Hindutva," said the Chief Minister whose party ended the 30-year alliance with the BJP that he ended in 2019.
Then he lashed out at the erstwhile ally: "When the Babri Masjid was brought down, you ran into your hole. The decision to build the Ram Temple was not from your government but from the court. And when it was built you went with a jhola to the people. Where is your Hindutva?"
Invoking his late father and a Hindutva icon, the Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, the Chief Minister said, " The Hindutva that the Shiv Sena Supremo has taught us, that is still there in the minds of all these Shiv Sainiks who have heard him. His Hindutva was that he did not want Hindus who were ringing bells at temples. He said he wanted Hindus who take on extremists.
The BJP has been backing Independent MP Navneet Rana and her husband, MLA Ravi Rana who were arrested on Saturday when they insisted on reciting the Hanuman Chalisa outside Mr Thackeray's home.
While the controversy mushroomed over the political battle on loudspeakers for azaans, the subtext is the coming election to the Brihanmumbai Corporation, the hugely rich civic body of Mumbai, which is controlled by the Shiv Sena.
The BJP accused the ruling Shiv Sena of over-reacting. Mr Thackeray's predecessor, the BJP's Devendra Fadnavis -- who skipped an all-party meeting on the issue today -- has alleged that the police action against the Ranas is "Hitlershahi".
"This is happening at the CM's instructions," Mr Fadnavis said. "If Hanuman Chalisa is not chanted in Maharashtra will it be chanted in Pakistan? If reciting Hanuman Chalisa is sedition, then all of us will indulge in this sedition and if the government has the guts, it should charge us for sedition," he added.
The Bombay High Court has supported the state action against the Ranas, saying it was "justified in its apprehension that it could create a law-and-order problem".
"A declaration that a person would recite religious verses at another person's place or at a public place is a breach of the personal liberty of the other person... With great power comes great responsibility (and) persons in public life are expected to act responsibly," the judges added, rejecting Navneet Rana's plea to quash the case against her.
The Ranas face charges of sedition and promoting enmity between groups by their statements. Navneet Rana has also been accused of stopping the police from doing their duty. Their bail plea comes up on Friday.