Even as a bunch of his ministers drew flak for their objectionable comments on various occasions, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has a piece of advise for them: Watch your tongue.
The CM’s statement came in the wake of comments made by BJP ministers Pankaja Munde, Mahadev Jankar, Vishnu Savara and Rajkumar Badole on various issues that did not gone down well with the public.
Mr Fadnavis has told his ministers that the party was no longer in the opposition. The ministers have to bear in mind that as part of the ruling party, they were constantly under public scrutiny, he said.
“I have told the ministers to be careful while speaking in public. We are sometimes aggressive over certain issues, but we are no longer in the opposition. The ruling party ministers are under the public scanner all the time,” Mr Fadnavis told this paper.
When asked about rural development minister Munde’s remark that she had kept her resignation ready, Mr Fadnavis dismissed it as an emotional outburst. He also refused to concede that Ms Munde had directed the remark at him. “I do not think Pankaja’s statements were meant for me. It was an emotional outburst,” he said.
In addition to stating that she had kept her resignation ready, Ms Munde had also said she was being deliberately targeted and questioned by her opponents who wanted to ruin her political career.
In the same programme, Mr Jankar had launched a scathing attack on Nationalist Congress Party's leader Ajit Pawar. Mr Jankar, who represents the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, an ally of the BJP in the government, later expressed regret for hurting the sentiments of the people.
In another instance, tribal minister Vishnu Savara allegedly said “Let them be” when he was informed that 600 children had died owing to malnutrition in Palghar.
Mr Badole, the social justice minister, meanwhile, was lambasted by BJP ally Shiv Sena for remarking that Maratha agitations were drawing crowds because of “money power.”
