In Kasba, it's nationalists vsanti-nationalists: Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis

PUNE: Maharashtra deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said the byelection to the city's Kasba Peth assembly constituency was "a battle between nationalist and anti-nationalist ideologies".
Addressing a campaign rally for BJP candidate Hemant Rasne in the Mahatma Phule Mandai area, Fadnavis said, "The fight for Kasba is no longer limited to two individuals or two parties.It has now become a battle between two ideologies - one is nationalist and the other anti-nationalist."
He said, "People unhappy with the abolition of Article 370 in then Jammu & Kashmir have locked horns in the Kasba bypoll with those who praised the abrogation of the special status. The Kasba assembly constituency has always supported the Hindutva ideology. The Congress and the NCP should clarify their stand on the Punyeshwar temple."
The temple was recently in the news for alleged encroachment by a community. The MNS, which is supporting BJP in Kasba, also raised the issue and demanded an excavation at the site to find facts.
Fadnavis said different narratives were being set in this election in a bid to divide the voters. He said, "Misinformation is being spread that the Brahmin community is unhappy (with the BJP's choice of candidate). The opposition is doing it only to divert the voters' attention."
The deputy CM said, "The MVA wants to give a communal colour to the poll. The NCP had organised a meeting in Kasba Peth to polarise the minority voters. The opposition parties are saying that a defeat of BJP in Kasba means defeat of PM Narendra Modi and RSS. The opposition is banking on one community as their vote bank. But BJP is getting support from all sections."
Fadnavis said the issue of old wadas and their redevelopment would be taken up after the polls.
BJP's Rasne is pitted against Congress' Ravindra Dhangekar in the Kasba Peth bypoll ring.