In a scathing attack against the Opposition parties, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has accused them of playing the communal card in an attempt to polarise votes in light of the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. He was hinting at the Shiv Sena and BJP, but chose not to name them. Addressing a rally at Bhokardan in the Marathwada region on Saturday evening, Mr Chavan said that the Opposition parties are creating conflict in the name of cast and religion. “In view of the forthcoming elections, Opposition parties are dividing people on the lines of caste and religion as an effort to spread communal hatred,” the chief minister said. He further said that the communal riots of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh were a perfect example of their strategy. The chief minister also expressed his fear over the ongoing communal politics, terming it a major challenge for secular forces. “Communal politics has become a major challenge for the secular forces,” Mr Chavan said. Talking about the recent interaction of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi with the party workers at Nagpur and Pune, the chief minister said that the party cadres are now confident and ready to face the Opponent. As part of his election preparedness for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Mr Gandhi had a direct interaction with party workers and assured them that they are as important as the other big leaders of the party. He even reprimanded some ministers for ignoring complaints of party cadres as an attempt to regain trust and boost their morale. Asking the party workers to spread awareness about various welfare schemes launched by the Centre and state government, Mr Chavan also claimed that his party had fulfilled all the promises made in the manifesto of the last Assembly elections.
