MAHARASHTRA TO PROBE CELEB TWEETS ON FARMERS’ PROTEST, FADNAVIS SLAMS MOVE

Congress leader Sachin Sawant on Monday said that Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has given orders to the Intelligence Department to probe the row over tweets by celebrities on the farmers’ issue. He also hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging that national heroes were being intimidated by the ruling party.

“The government sprung into action after Rihanna tweeted on the farmers’ issue. This was followed by a series of tweets from celebrities. If a person, be it a celebrity, opines on their own, it’s fine. But there is scope for suspicion that the BJP is behind this. Similar words like ‘amicable’ have been used in these tweets,” Sawant told ANI.

Celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar, Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty, among several others had tweeted calling for unity in the country after international pop star Rihanna, teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg and others extended their support to farmers protesting at the borders of India’s capital against the three agriculture laws.

“National heroes should be provided security if BJP is intimidating them. I spoke to Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and he said it is a serious matter. He has given orders to the Intelligence department to probe into this,” the Congress leader said.

He further emphasised that celebrities can and should be allowed to speak up for the country if they want to and added that there should be an investigation to see if the BJP has a role to play in the tweets. “They can speak for the country if they want of their own free will. We want an investigation to see if there is any pressure from the BJP. Was there any arm twisting? These things have happened before,” he said.

Meanwhile, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis slammed state Home Minister, Anil Deshmukh for ordering a probe into celebrities’ tweets on the ongoing farmers’ protests.

“Disgusting and highly deplorable! Where is your Marathi pride now? Where is your Maharashtra dharma? We will never find such ‘ratnas’ (gems) in the entire nation who order probe against Bharat Ratnas who always stand strong in one voice for our nation. Has this Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government lost all its senses?” Fadnavis said in a tweet. “Actually, now it seems necessary to probe the mental state and stability of the ones who made such demand and of people who ordered a probe against our Bharat Ratnas,” he added.

WITH ANI INPUTS