NCP to send 20 lakh letters to VP Naidu over BJP MP's RS slogan

New Delhi: The disapproval shown by Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu after BJP MP Udayanraje Bhosale chanted a slogan honouring the Maratha Warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj while taking oath in the Upper House on Wednesday has set off a controversy in Maharashtra.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has decided to send 20 lakh letters to Naidu to register their protest.

Bhosale after completing his oath in the Rajya Sabha had raised the slogan ‘Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji’. Naidu, who was in the chair, was heard saying, “It is not a house it is my chamber. Nothing is going on record, only the oath. No other slogans are allowed in the House, keep that in mind for future guidance.”

Meanwhile, several Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena leaders took exception to Naidu’s remarks, calling it ‘disrespectful’.

“Who will give this certificate on whether the descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji was disrespected in Delhi or not. The BJP is mum on this issue,” Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said.

Maharashtra Congress Spokesperson Sachin Sawant said the BJP which had come to power by “taking the name of Shivaji had been governing like Aurangazeb as it could not even tolerate the slogans honouring Shivaji”.

The youth wing of the NCP – Bhosale’s former party – said it would send 20 lakh letters to Naidu, protesting over the issue. NCP youth wing chief Mahebub Shaikh said the letters will include the text ‘Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji’.

The move is seen as an attempt by the party to get back at the BJP, whose youth wing on Wednesday had announced its intent to send 10 lakh letters to NCP chief Sharad Pawar against his remarks “some people think building temple will eradicate Covid”, which he said a day after Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone of a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Meanwhile, Bhosale tried to downplay the controversy. “Naidu said you can take oath, but do not add anything else to it…it is (chanting a slogan after taking the oath) not in line with the Constitution,” the BJP MP said, adding, “But some people have created a controversy out of it. Had (Shivaji) Maharaj been insulted, I am not the one to keep quiet. I would have resigned at the very moment.”

“Naidu did no wrong. Had he done so, I would have sought his apology,” Bhosale added.

The Vice-President, meanwhile, clarified that he meant no disrespect to anyone. “Always been a strong and vocal admirer of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and worshipper of Goddess Bhawani. Reminded Members that as per conventional practice at the time of taking oath, no slogans are given. No disrespect at all,” Naidu tweeted on Thursday.