Maharashtra Minister and BJP leader Nitesh Rane stirred controversy once again when he made remarks about EVMs while targeting a community. His comments have drawn widespread condemnation, not only from the Opposition but also from an NDA ally, the Republican Party of India (Athawale).
Speaking at the Hindu Garjana Sabha in Maharashtra’s Sangli on Friday, Rane said that EVM, which stands for electronic voting machine, implied “Every Vote against Mullah”.
“You know how our opponents squawk about EVMs. They can’t digest how Hindus unitedly voted for Hindus. They always blame the EVMs. They don’t understand the meaning of EVM. They don’t understood in what context Hindus voted in recent elections. EVM means ‘every vote against Mullah’. We are proudly saying that we have been elected because of EVMs,” Rane, who is an MLA from Kankavali seat said.
“We don’t need Muslim votes to win the elections. I didn’t went to Muslim community to ask for vote. I said you do whatever you want. But this time Hindus were aware and they made us win,” he added.
This is not the first time that Rane has made such controversial remarks.
In December last year, Rane called Kerala “a mini Pakistan” and said “all terrorists voted for Gandhis”, while referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Following a backlash, Rane clarified his remarks and said he only raised issues of religious conversion of Hindus and love jihad in Kerala.
OPPOSITION, NDA ALLY REACT
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor criticised Rane for his EVM remark and said targeting a community was wrong and that his comment was “shocking”.
“This is quite shocking. In our country, we really have to understand the basic lesson of the freedom struggle, which is that when one set of people said that religion is of their nationhood and they went away and created Pakistan. Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘We have fought for the freedom of everybody and we will create a country for everybody, we will write a Constitution for everybody and everybody will live here with equal rights’,” he said while speaking to new agency ANI.
“I must say that people picking on any one community, whether it’s against Muslims, Hindus, Christians, or any caste, that is all wrong. We are all equal individual citizens of India, and that is the only basis on which our country can progress,” Tharoor added.
Union Minister and RPI (A) chief Ramdas Athawale, whose party is a part of the BJP-led NDA, too voiced his disapproval over Rane’s remarks and advised him not to take such a hard stand.
“Nitesh Rane is a minister in Maharashtra. This is a wrong statement. One should not say such things. The country runs according to the Constitution. Nitesh Rane should not take such a hard stand. Muslims are also our own. One should not attack them all the time,” he said.
AIMIM leader Waris Pathan hit out at the Maharashtra government and said it ‘rewarded’ Rane with a cabinet berth “for abusing Muslims”.
“It is an old habit of Nitesh Rane to make such disgusting remarks. He has become a minister now and the government has rewarded him for abusing Muslims. He should refrain from making such remarks. He has 20 FIRs registered against him, but the government is not taking action against him,” he told news agency PTI.
Voicing similar sentiments, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Jha said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not taking action against BJP ministers who are giving hate speeches.
“PM Modi says this is the era of Buddha and not of Yuddha (war). But his party ministers don’t listen to him. PM Modi talks big but can’t control his ministers who spread venom. He should control his ministers,” he said.
(with inputs from agencies)
