Mumbai:

The BJP today doubled down against Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole’s purported ‘dog’ remarks targeting its leaders and described it as Congress’s frustration ahead of Assembly polls. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said the remarks prove that the Maha Vikas Aghadi opposition alliance has gone “from disappointment to dejection”

Speaking to ANI, Mr Somaiya said, “They are going from disappointment to dejection. Sharad Pawar is saying something; Uddhav Thackeray is verbally abusing Election Commission. Now, Rahul Gandhi’s Congress is calling the BJP a ‘kutta’ because opinion polls show a clear majority for Mahayuti. So, I can understand their disappointment.”

The Congress leader said during a poll campaign in Akola yesterday said, “I want to ask, will the OBC people of Akola district vote for the BJP who are calling you dogs? It is time to make the BJP a dog now; they have become so arrogant.”

The comments seeking to blame the BJP for disrespecting the OBC community are expected to intensify the ongoing political rivalry between the MVA and Mahayuti ahead of the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections.

BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said, “Nana Patole is frustrated because when he travels on ground, he can understand that the Congress is not going to form a government in Maharashtra. But in his frustration, he has said that he wants to tame the BJP as dogs… This shows the ‘Emergency’ mindset of the Congress party that it wants to tame its rivals and bring them under control; it wants to file cases against them and silence them. If they come to power in Maharashtra, they will file cases against whoever speaks against them.

“That is why we say that Congress wants to damage the Constitution. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution gives you freedom of speech. I condemn the word used by Nana Patole but it also shows their inferiority complex. Yesterday, Karnataka Congress leader Zameer Ahmed used the term ‘kaala’ for his rival. It is a racist term. Today, they are using the term ‘kutta’…I can understand the frustration of Nana Patole. When they are not forming their government, they get frustrated and say absurd things,” the BJP spokesperson added.

The opposition MVA coalition, comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the NCP (SP), aims to reclaim power in the state, challenging the Mahayuti alliance, which includes Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the BJP, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

Mumbai:

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Tuesday refused to take up the responsibility as “communication chief with the Election Commission of India for Maharashtra assembly polls”, stating that he should have been consulted beforehand.

In a letter to Raosaheb Danve, chairman of the party’s state election campaign committee, the former Mumbai MP termed the treatment given to him as ‘insulting’.

“It is wrong to appoint me as communication chief with the Election Commission of India for Maharashtra assembly polls without even discussing it with me. I disapprove of it, but you can appoint someone else for that position,” read the letter.

“I am not a member of this committee, and I request you and the state president (Chandrashekhar Bawankule) not to treat me such insultingly,” Mr Somaiya added.

The letter also touched on a period in the past when the BJP, then in alliance with the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray, had to sideline Somaiya as he had targeted the Shiv Sena continually over alleged corruption in the Mumbai civic body. Having won in 2014, he was denied Lok Sabha ticket in 2019, as well as in 2024.

“I have been working as a humble party worker since February 18, 2019, when BJP leaders directed me to leave the joint press conference because of Uddhav Thackeray’s insistence. I took the responsibility of exposing various corrupt practices of the then Uddhav Thackeray government and also survived three near-fatal attacks, but I did my duty,” he said.

“I am satisfied with the affection I have received from you during these last five and a half years. I will continue to work for the party in the upcoming assembly elections,” Mr Somaiya added.

The former Mumbai MP later also posted a message on X, saying, “I thank BJP Maharashtra for appointing me as Member of Campaign Committee and expressed Regrets and inability to do the same. I am still an active and ordinary member of the BJP and will continue to do so, but I will not join the committee.” When asked for comment, state BJP chief Bawankule said, “Mr Somaiya is our senior leader. It is a rule in the BJP that we do not ask anyone, we delegate responsibilities. The party did not discuss with me whether I wanted to become state chief or not. I was made state chief directly.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)