Loudspeaker row: Maharashtra govt to hold all-party meeting today; Devendra Fadnavis, Raj Thackeray to skip

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray will not attend today’s all-party meeting on the loudspeaker row.

Pic for representational use only

MUMBAI: The Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government in Maharashtra will hold an all-party meeting on Monday (April 25, 2022) on the issue of loudspeakers at religious places and to ensure that there are no law-and-order issues in the state.

The all-party meeting will be held at the Sahayadri Guest House around 11 AM, said reports. However, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray will not attend today’s meeting. 

“MNS chief Raj Thackeray will not attend the all-party meeting called by the state government to resolve the loudspeaker dispute,” MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande was quoted by ANI as saying.

Maharashtra | MNS chief Raj Thackeray to not participate in the all-party meeting called by the state government to resolve the loudspeaker dispute: MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande

(File photos) pic.twitter.com/TR3FEj1gOf

— ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2022

It also emerged that BJP leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will also not attend the all-party meeting today. News agency ANI said that Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and former CM and opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis will not attend the meeting called by the state government.

Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse and Dy CM Ajit Pawar will chair the meeting, it added.

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and former CM and opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis will not attend the meeting called by the state government.

Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse and Dy CM Ajit Pawar to chair the meeting.

— ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2022

Sharing more information, Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil had earlier said that an attempt was being made to create communal strife in Maharashtra with a view to imposing President’s Rule in the state.

“The Maharashtra government has called for an all-party meeting on Monday 25. We have invited two leaders each from prominent political parties in the state to discuss the Supreme Court’s 2005 judgment on loudspeakers. We hope to discuss the stand that the state needs to take on the issue of loudspeakers,” he had said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had met 80-year-old Shiv Sena worker Chandrabhaga Shinde in Mumbai who participated in the party`s protest against Amravati BJP MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana amid Hanuman Chalisa row.

Uddhav Thackeray was accompanied by his wife Rashmi Thackeray and son Aaditya Thackeray, who is a minister in the Maharashtra government. 

On Saturday, a row erupted when Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her husband MLA Ravi Rana stated that the couple plans to chant Hanuman Chalisa outside ‘Matoshree’, the private residence of Chief Minster Uddhav Thackeray. 

Following this, Shiv Sena workers protested outside the residence of Navneet and Ravi Rana waving flags with the aim to prevent them from reaching the Chief Minister`s residence.

Chandrabhaga Shinde was among the Shiv Sena workers who participated in the protest outside the political couple. The Ranas withdrew their plan to chant Hanuman Chalisa amid the protests from Shiv Sainiks that culminated in their arrest on the charge of creating enmity between different groups.

On Sunday, MP Navneet Rana and MLA Ravi Rana were sent to judicial custody for 14-days by the Holiday and Sunday court of Metropolitan Magistrate, Bandra.

The MP-MLA couple`s application will be heard by the court on April 29. The Mumbai Police has asked them to file their say on the bail plea on April 27.

(With ANI Inputs)