Ahead of the Telangana Chief Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief K Chandrashekar Rao’s Pandharpur visit, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde on Monday night directed the administration to ensure that only posters and hoardings of warkaris are put up in the temple town.
Warkaris are the devotees of Lord Vitthal, and their ‘Ashadi Ekadashi’ procession which culminates at the Vitthal temple in Pandharpur.
According to a CMO press note, Shinde had noticed several posters and hoardings of political parties during a recent visit to Pandharpur, which prompted him to direct the district collector to “ensure that only those who are devotees of Lord Vitthala should be welcomed”.
KCR arrived in Maharashtra’s Solapur district for a two-day pilgrimage to Pandharpur on Monday along with his cabinet colleagues. His motorcade consisted of 600 vehicles.
Earlier, BRS had sought permission to shower rose petals on the warkaris. While the Maharashtra government denied permission for this, Shinde said they welcomed KCR visiting the temple. “The doors of Pandharpur temple are open to all… How can anybody stop anybody from worshipping Lord Vitthal?” he said.
Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said: “If anybody is coming to participate in the pilgrimage, we welcome it. (But) they should keep politics away.”
KCR’s visit to Pandharpur is being seen as the latest in a series of moves to expand the BRS beyond Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, with the slogan ‘Abki Baar Kisan Sarkar’. The BRS has held rallies in Marathwada and Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and set up an office in Nagpur, the city with the RSS headquarters, with plans to open more in Pune, Aurangabad and Mumbai.
The Maharashtra Congress responded to KCR’s visit and called BRS the BJP’s ‘B-team’. “The people of the state know who benefits from the division of votes. In Telangana, the BRS party is facing a crisis and many of its leaders are joining the Congress. The Telangana pattern is just as deceptive as the Gujarat pattern,” said Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Nana Patole. Patole said that his party will soon start exposing the “bogus” Telangana pattern.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition also questioned KCR’s intentions behind making a serious push into Maharashtra, saying this would undermine the Opposition’s unity bid against the BJP.