Taking a dig at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for not attending Puja at Pandharpur temple amidst Maratha agitation, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Monday stated that he should not have broken the long-standing tradition of offering prayers at the Vitthal temple during Ashadi Ekadashi.
"It has been the tradition that the chief of the state along with one of the Warkaris offer prayers to Lord Vithoba in Pandharpur on Ashadhi Ekadashi. He should not have broken the tradition," Singh said.
Singh was in Pune after visiting the Pandharpur temple on the auspicious day of Ashadhi Ekadashi on Monday. While interacting with the media, he informed that he has been visiting the temple on Ashadhi Ekadashi for the last 27 years, not for political reason but for his personal belief.
On the eve of Ashadhi Ekadashi, the some Maratha community group agitating for reservation for the community has warned that they would not allow the chief minister to offer prayers at Pandharpur, following which Fadnavis decided to cancel his visit. He cited the reason that there were 10 lakh devotees present in Pandharpur and he did not want an issue of law and order due to Maratha agitation.
Asserting that Fadnavis should have gone for the puja, the Congress leader said, "If he was devoted to Lord Vithoba, he should have gone there. It is not just the chief minister but none of the ministers from BJP visited Pandharpur. Why are they so scared?"
Blaming the chief minister for growing Maratha agitation, Singh said, "The chief minister only had given assurance that he would give reservation to Maratha and Dhangar communities within one month. However, he did not fulfill his promise which angered the Maratha and Dhangar communities."
Speaking about the recent no-confidence motion which NDA government defeated in the parliament, Singh said, "No-confidence is not just about numbers. The Telugu Desam Party breaking ties with NDA, Shiv Sena remaining firm on its decision to abstain during no-confidence motion, senior BJP leaders like Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha and Ram Jethmalani criticising the party, breaking of ties between BJP and TDP in Jammu and Kashmir shows no confidence in the government."
When asked if Congress would support regional parties to defeat Modi, he said that in a parliamentary democracy, it is not a person but an ideology which contests polls. "Modi is not important to us. The ideology he represents is of Sangh which spreads hatred and division among communities, and we oppose that ideology," he alleged.
"The next election will be fought on ideologies. The country needs to decide whether we should follow the ideologies of Gandhi and Nehru or that of Hedgewar, Golwalkar or Savarkar," he said.
