Amid the Aurangzeb tomb row, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde`s veiled taunt at Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab that triggered an uproar in Maharashtra council on Tuesday, reported the PTI.
There was a heated exchange of words between the ruling and opposition benches in the state legislative council on Tuesday.
While addressing the council about the Nagpur violence, Eknath Shinde questioned the glorification of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, whose grave has become a point of contention with right-wing outfits demanding its removal.
“Who is Aurangzeb? Why should we allow his glorification in our state? He is a blot on our history,” the deputy chief minister said in his closing remarks, according to the PTI.
He said that the Mughal emperor had offered Maratha king Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje a choice to convert to Islam, but the latter refused and was brutally tortured and killed.
Eknath Shinde slammed state Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal`s comparison of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis`s governance to Aurangzeb`s rule.
“Did CM Fadnavis ever torture anyone the way Aurangzeb did to his enemies?” he questioned and turned towards Anil Parab and asked if the chief minister had tortured him, as per the PTI.
Angered by the comment, Parab stood up and demanded the right to respond.
Council chairman Ram Shinde, however, did not permit him to speak, and his microphone remained muted.
Despite this, Parab, along with Leader of the Opposition Ambadas Danve, Sachin Parab, and other legislators, stood in protest, seeking permission to counter Shinde`s statements, but none of them were allowed to speak.
Continuing his attack, Eknath Shinde said, “Anil Parab should not forget that whatever I did, I did openly, and I did it to save the Shiv Sena from those who sympathise with Aurangzeb (Congress). It was the Congress that provided protection to Aurangzeb`s tomb.”
Multiple agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, are probing a money laundering case linked to a resort owned by Anil Parab`s aide in Dapoli, and the legislator has been called several times for questioning.
Referring to Parab`s allegation that Eknath Shinde switched allegiance from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to the BJP out of fear of central agencies, Shinde shot back,
“Even the US, after killing Osama bin Laden, ensured that he was not buried on land. They disposed him off in the sea to prevent any glorification,” the news agency reported.
(with PTI inputs)
