Devendra Fadnavis attempts to create rift within Maha Vikas Aghadi?

In a move that would create a rift within the ideologically-different Maha Vikas Aghadi partners, BJP on Sunday demanded that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray bring in resolution in Maharashtra legislature recommending Bharat Ratna to revolutionary freedom fighter Veer Savarkar.

Speaking to reporters on the eve of Vidhan Sabha session, leader of opposition in Assembly Devendra Fadnavis demanded that Thackeray should move the resolution on February 26, the death anniversary of Veer Savarkar, who propagated the philosophy of Hindutva.

Fadnavis also complimented Thackeray for allowing the Koregaon Bhima probe to be transferred from Pune police to the NIA and making his stand clear on the CAA-NPR.

Hitting out at NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, he said: "The home minister (Anil Deshmukh) and the NCP leadership was opposed to the transfer of the (Koregaon Bhima) case to NIA but the Chief Minister allowed it."

He also said that Thackeray has clarified that the latter was not opposed to CAA and NPR.

Last week, after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Thackeray had said: "I had a good discussion with the Prime Minister on CAA, NPR and NRC. No one needs to fear CAA. The NPR is not going to throw anyone out of the country."

Fadnavis, who was accompanied by his counterpart in Council Praveen Darekar and state BJP president Chandrakant Patil, described the MVA as "sthagiti sarkar" (stop-work government).

"They are stopping, suspending, scrapping projects," he said referring to Jal Yukt Shivar, the flagship project that he launched as chief minister for making villages drought free.

Around a fortnight ago, during the business advisory committee, the BJP demanded a resolution on Savarkar, which the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance rejected saying that speaker Nana Patole can use his discretion whether or not to take up resolution in the budget session.