‘No Yogi, only bhogi in Maharashtra’: Raj Thackeray’s jibe at Uddhav govt over loudspeaker row

New Delhi: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday showered praise on Yogi Adityanath govt and took a sharp jibe at Uddhav government in Maharashtra.

Drawing a comparison between the two Chief Ministers on how they dealt with loudspeaker row in their respective states, he sought to lament that ‘Maharashtra doesn’t have any Yogi’.

Yogi’s praise & Maha CM’s rebuke

Taking to Twitter, Raj Thackeray wrote, “I congratulate and stand grateful to the Yogi government for having removed the loudspeakers from religious places, especially the masjids.”

“Unfortunately, in Maharashtra, we don’t have ‘yogis’, what we have are bhogis (hedonists),” he wrote further.

#Azaan #Loudspeakers pic.twitter.com/Z6sCSPwJdK

— Raj Thackeray (@RajThackeray) April 28, 2022

MNS Chief has made a strong pitch for removing loudspeakers from mosques in Maharashtra for ‘unnecessary noise & nuisance’ and has even given ultimatum to Uddhav govt for removing them by May 3.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut dubbed MNS chief’s threats as mere political posturing ahead of BMC elections and also accused it being hand in gloves with the BJP. He claimed that a sinister campaign is being run to divide the communities for political gains, a claim outrightly denied by the saffron party.

The loudspeaker controversy originated from Maharashtra but today, it is resonating across the country with many leaders demanding a uniform law for regulating use of loudspeakers at religious places as well as processions.

Yogi govt’s loudspeaker drive yielding results

Following Yogi government’s directives on removing loudspeakers from religious places, the change is seen on the ground. Not just mosques, temple and other religious places also are either uninstalling the loudspeakers or lowering their volumes.

As per government data, about 11,000 loudspeakers have been uninstalled from various religious places while more than 35,000 have restricted their volumes to premises.