BJP leader and Maharashtra's deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday came down hard on Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar over the latter's remarks on his wife. Addressing apoll rally in Nagpur on Thursday, Kanhaiya Kumar said that “the deputy CM's wife makes Instagram reels".
Fadnavis said that the language and actions of Opposition leaders targeting his wife Amruta would put any civilized society to shame. "Jis prakar ka vyavhaar inhone kiya hai. Jis prakar se meri patni ke memes banana, uske baare mein gandi gandi baatein likhna. Ye saari cheezein... Sharam aani chahiye. Chullu bhar paani mein doob marna chahiye. Arre, ladna hai to saamne se lado. (The kind of behavior they (opposition leaders) have displayed, making memes about my wife and writing inappropriate things about her. These actions be ashamed. If you want to challenge me, do it directly)," Fadnavis told ANI in an interview.
Fadnavis further said that his wife and him have endured several challenges but remain unfazed. "I told my wife that we are in politics and that we need to remain patient. We must remain calm. Lies don't last long. The truth may be troubled, but it cannot be defeated," he added.
Fadnavis further said he had been subjected to several investigations but the Opposition failed to find anything against him. "They investigated everything from my hair to my blood but did not find anything against me. When they did not find anything, they started personal attacks on me. Their troll army makes allegations against my wife," he added.
On Thursday, Kanhaiya Kumar said common people would be left to fight this “dharmyudh” while the leaders' children would study abroad, far from all of this. He was referring to Fadnavis' call to unite Hindus and urged them to vote in what he termed as a "vote dharmayudh" to counter Opposition's "vote jihad".
Responding to Fadnavis, Kumar asked: “Will we fight to protect 'dharma' while the deputy CM's wife makes Instagram reels?”
In the run-up to the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Fadnavis has repeatedly claimed that the BJP secured fewer seats in the Lok Sabha elections than the Opposition because of 'vote-jihad'. He has used the term to claim that members of a specific community have voted en bloc against the BJP in a bid to keep them out of power.
In an interview to The Indian Express yesterday, Fadnavis claimed that in a seat like Dhule, the BJP had a lead of 1.9 lakh votes from five assembly segments, but MVA secured a lead in one segment in Malegaon central and won the seat by a margin of just 4,000 votes.
"The same happened in 11 other Lok Sabha constituencies where there was extreme polarisation of Muslim votes, this is vote jihad," he said.
Maharashtra will go to polls on November 20 in a single phase while the results will be declared on November 23.
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