Protests in Maha against Vice Prez for objecting to slogan

Protests were witnessed in different parts of Maharashtra on Thursday over Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu's objection to slogans raised by a Bharatiya Janata Party member Udayanraje Bhosale, after his oath-taking ceremony in the Rajya Sabha.

As the ruling Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress raised the issue, the Vice President issued a clarification on his stand in the Rajya Sabha when the oath was administered to 41 of 62 new members.

"Always been a strong and vocal admirer of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and worshipper of Goddess Bhawani. Reminded Members that as per conventional practice at the time of taking oath, no slogans are given. No disrespect at all," said Naidu in a tweet this evening.

After he took the oath in English, Bhosale - the 13th direct descendent of the legendary warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj - raised the slogan of 'Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra, Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji'.

Naidu, who is the Chairman of the Upper House, gently reminded Bhosale that raising slogans was not permitted in the House and it would not go on record, and cautioned against repeating it in future.

Targeting the BJP, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut demanded to know who will certify whether Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's descendent was insulted by the "Delhi Durbar" or not.

"The BJP has kept its mouth shut on this issue. Even Sambhaji Bhide has not announced a Sangli-Satara shutdown yet," Raut said sarcastically.

Congress leader Bhai Jagtap demanded to know it is not acceptable to the BJP to utter the name of Goddess Bhavani and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

"We know about your fake love for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaja You want to use his name only during electionsa," he said.

The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies carried out demonstrations all over the state, shot off protest letters to Naidu, burnt his posters in Nashik, among other forms of agitation.