BJP-SHIV SENA

India in green energy and digitalisation. She welcomed Modi’s declaration that India will be energy-independent before 2047, and said EU’S Global Gateway could help India and Bangladesh by bringing in hydropower produced in Nepal and Bhutan and building clean hydrogen infrastructure.

In the digital field, India and the EU can work together to develop technology based on fundamental values and on setting standards.

“Today, India and the EU both recognise that we are better off when we develop global standards for new technologies such as 5G, instead of seeking separate national solutions…we share the idea that privacy should be guaranteed online as well as offline, and that technology should enhance individual freedom, not the state’s ability to control us,” she said.

At their meeting, Modi and Von der Leyen also reviewed the progress in implementing the India-eu Roadmap 2025 and welcomed the decision to formally restart negotiations on bilateral trade and investment agreements in June.

Vivek Mishra, a fellow for the strategic studies programme at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), said Von der Leyen’s lspeech “depicted a deliberate poise straddling concerns over the ongoing war in Europe with possible threats to the rulesbased order in the Indo-pacific”. He added, “Her encouragement to China to play by the rules was a clear standout.”

edly attacked. “There are attempts to finish us [the BJP] by attempting to kill our leaders. The opposition leaders are attacked under police protection. No cases are registered against workers of ruling parties. Our leaders Kirit Somaiya and Mohit Kamboj were attacked by the Sena workers just because we exposed their corruption. In this backdrop there was no point in attending the meeting on law and order. We boycotted it,” said Fadnavis.

The controversy originated on March 29 when a BJP delegation led by city unit chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha met the police commissioner with a demand that loudspeakers not be used outside mosques. This came at a time when there were protests against the sale of Halal meat in several parts of the country, and a controversy around female students wearing hijab in educational institutes in Karnataka.

Over the following weeks, it snowballed when MNS chief Thackeray issued a “deadline” to the state government for loudspeakers to be removed from mosques by May 3, and independent lawmaker couple Ravi Rana (MLA) and Navneet Rana (MP) courting controversy by planning a Hanuman Chalisa recital outside the residence of CM Uddhav Thackeray, a plan that drew out large numbers of Shiv Sena activists in protest.

The Ranas eventually backed down and were later booked for sedition — on Monday, the Bombay HC dismissed their writ petition seeking the charges to be quashed. The couple say they are independent but close to the BJP.

Breaking his silence over the issue, the CM, at a government event, said on Monday: “If you want to recite Hanuman Chalisa at my home, do come. But approach with a proper method… if you want to visit by ‘dadagiri’ (bullying), Balasaheb (the late Shiv Sena founder and his father) taught us how to break that ‘dadagiri’.”

The HC on Monday said the petitioners and all others occupying public positions must act more responsibly and show respect towards other public persons as it rejected their plea.

Navneet Rana, in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, alleged “inhuman treatment” in police custody, prompting the LS secretariat to formally seek a report from the Maharashtra government. Fadnavis hit out at the government over the action against the Ranas. “The Maharashtra government wants to crush and kill Opposition. Will Hanuman Chalisa be spoken in Pakistan, if not in Maharashtra? If sedition charges get imposed on Navneet and Ravi Rana, we will all chant Hanuman Chalisa,” he said. On Monday, state home minister Dilip Walse Patil said the issue will be taken up again at the cabinet meeting expected to take place on April 27 and added that the guidelines operational in the state are based on the Supreme Court’s orders.

“Some political leaders have set deadlines for the removal of loudspeakers, but there cannot be selective action for any specific religion. The action would have to be initiated for the use of loudspeakers at the festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri, bhajans and kirtans [ceremonies and rituals]. The law will be equal for all religions and the action would be taken by the police for violation of the existing rules,” he said. Patil said that violators would face police action as per existing rules irrespective of their religion.

Deputy CM Pawar appealed to leaders across parties to cooperate with the state government to maintain law and order, and said that several religious structures were illegal. Representatives from the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition— Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena — as well as the Peasants and Workers Party, Aam Aadmi Party, All India Majlis-e-ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), and Communist Party of India (Marxist) attended the meeting. Barring MNS, all parties pressed for action to maintain law and order in the state.

Patil said since the issue pertained to the entire country, the Centre should come out with national guidelines. “The orders issued by the government are based on the SC orders which are applicable to the entire nation. We expect the Centre to come out with a national policy on it.” The row worsened after BJP leader Mohit Kamboj was hit by Sena workers on Friday and Somaiya’s car was attacked by Sena workers, causing damage to the vehicle and injury to the former MP. State environment minister and Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray said that the government was considering effective implementation of existing rules related to use of loudspeakers and noise levels.

MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar said that the party was firm on the May 3 deadline issued by their party chief. “There cannot be loudspeakers played throughout the year,” he said. “The BJP has failed to play its role of the responsible opposition party and their absence from the all-party meeting convened to maintain law and order in the state is evidence of this. The BJP has shown its desperation for power over the last one and half years of the MVA government. The people of Maharashtra have now realised the BJP was not interested in social harmony. The state has a longstanding tradition of the ruling and opposition parties sitting together on the issues that pose challenges before the state, but BJP has chosen to tread a different path,” said state Congress’s general secretary Sachin Sawant.