Maharashtra: No one is above the law, says Congress leader Nana Patole on Raj Thackeray

NAGPUR: No one is above the law, said Congress’s Maharashtra unit president Nana Patole while reacting to news of an offence being registered against MNS chief Raj Thackeray, after his Aurangabad rally in which the controversial loudspeaker issue was again raked up.
Patole also took a dig at PM Narendra Modi saying beneficiaries are not getting anything from government schemes, which was a rebuttal to Modi’s veiled statement in Berlin that earlier only 15% of the money reached direct beneficiaries.It was the late PM Rajiv Gandhi who had once said of every rupee sent by the central government, only 15 paise reached the actual beneficiaries.
While Modi in his speech did not take any names, Patole said, “It was Rajiv Gandhi who honestly described the situation which prevailed. But, now the money only goes to Modi’s mitron (friends). The actual beneficiaries are not getting anything. Hence, Modi has no right to make such statements.”
On Raj Thackeray, Patole said, “Action will be taken against those who break law. No one is above the law.”
Patole, speaking to media persons in Nagpur, said, “This (offence registration) is not against a specific person. There are rules regarding holding a rally and maybe those were violated.” He said divisive issues are being raised to ‘deflect’ the attention from important issues. “By fomenting communal disharmony across the country, the BJP-led central government is planning to hide its failures. You see all non-BJP states, and such (divisive) things are happening there. And all of this is only harming the country because many people are packing their bags and leaving the country,” said Patole.
SP wades into loudspeaker row
Samajwadi Party too issued a media statement on Tuesday, saying Raj Thackeray must stop talking about loudspeakers and instead focus on issues related to employment and development.
SP general secretary Aijaz Khan said, “For the last few days, some politicians in Maharashtra are trying to disrupt peace and harmony in the state, all for political reasons.”
Khan said Raj (Thackeray) is being selective while raising the loudspeaker on masjids issue as the same is being used in almost all religious places.