Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday, 13 October, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing ‘shock’ over Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, regarding the reopening of places of worship in the state.
The NCP chief, in the letter, stated that he was “shocked and surprised” at the language used by the governor.
“Tone and tenor must always be in keeping with the stature of the constitutional post occupied by individuals. Looking at the turn of events, CM was left with no option but to release his reply to Governor in press. I endorse CM’s decision on the issue,” said Pawar, in his letter to PM Modi.
“In the letter Hon'ble Governor of Maharashtra has sought the intervention of Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra to open religious places for the public. As you would be aware Maharashtra has a large number of religious places where a huge gathering of people is observed. Places like Siddhivinayak Temple of Mumbai, Lord Vitthal Temple of Pandharpur, Shri Sai Baba Temple of Shirdi and other places of worship irrespective of religion witness huge crowd on even normal days. In such places, it is almost impossible to maintain safe distance between people,” Pawar wrote to PM Modi.
He further mentioned that: “I also appreciate the prerogative of the Governor to convey his views to the Chief Minister. However, I am shocked and surprised to see the letter of the Governor released to the media and the kind of language used in the letter.”
A war of words had erupted between Koshyari and Thackeray over places of worship remaining closed in the state, after the former in a letter to the CM asked whether he had turned “secular”.
In the letter written on Monday, Governor Koshyari had requested the CM to “announce forthwith the reopening of all the places of worship with all necessary COVID-19 precautions”.
On Tuesday, CM Thackeray responded to Governor Koshyari with his own letter, saying that since imposing lockdown all of a sudden was not right, lifting it completely at once will also be not a good thing. He added that he would take a decision after careful consideration at the soonest.
Thackeray said that he needs to provide no proof of his Hindutva to the governor.
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