Counter Vote Jihad with 'Dharma-yuddha': Fadnavis

November 09, 2024 21:31

"Vote Jihad" should be countered by "Dharma-yuddha" of vote, Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said here on Saturday as he campaigned for the November 20 assembly elections.

The BJP leader was speaking at a rally in support of Mahayuti coalition candidates Atul Save (Aurangabad East), Sanjay Shirsat (Aurangabad West) and Pradip Jaiswal (Aurangabad Central).

"No one can change the name of this city now. At an AIMIM rally here, someone asked who was Sambhaji Maharaj. Sambhaji Maharaj remained undefeated for nine years. So we have given his name to the city," he said.

The city, earlier known as Aurangabad, was renamed for Sambhaji, the second ruler of the Maratha state after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

"A vote Jihad has begun in the state now. We saw that in the Lok Sabha elections. In Dhule, we were ahead by 1.90 lakh votes but the Malegaon (assembly segment) had 1.94 lakh votes and we were defeated by only 4,000 votes. This vote Jihad was the reason for our defeat there because we were not together," said the BJP leader.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has given the message 'batenge to katenge' (divided we perish) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said 'ek rahenge to safe rahenge' (united we remain safe), Fadnavis said.

The election is an opportunity to show that Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar was a saffron fortress, he added.

Without naming Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and former BJP ally Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis said late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray gave the name `Sambhajinagar' to this city, "and now some people are ashamed to call Bal

Thackeray Hindu-hridaya-samrat (ruler of Hindu hearts) and they call him 'Janab' Bal Thackeray.

This is an election for crushing the dreams of those who are trying to bring the rule of Razakars to the city, he said in a swipe at the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). -- PTI

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

LIVE! Shinde will take 'big decision' in 24 hrs: Sena leader

SC stays survey of Sambhal mosque, calls for peace

The Supreme Court on Friday directed a Sambhal trial court to temporarily halt proceedings in the case over the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid and its survey at Chandausi while directing the UP government to maintain peace and harmony in...

Mahayuti meet cancelled, Shinde off to native village

Outgoing Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who returned to Mumbai from New Delhi on Friday morning, is travelling to his native village in Satara district amid continuing suspense over his successor a week after the assembly poll...

11 killed, 25 hurt as Maha govt bus overturns in Gondia

At least 11 passengers were killed and 25 others injured after a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus overturned in Gondia district of the state on Friday afternoon. The bus, operated under the service name 'Shiv...

'Bumrah Is A One-Man Army!'

'Every game that he has been part of, where India has won across formats, you will see that Bumrah has left a big imprint on that game.'