Varsha vandalism: Shows how low BJP can stoop, says NCP
Reacting to the vandalism at Varsha, the official residence of the chief minister, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator and spokesperson, Nawab Malik told The Free Press Journal, "This act shows clearly how low the Bharatiya Janata Party can stoop for the sake of cheap publicity. It reflects their frustration at being ousted from power."
Earlier on Saturday, he had shared pictures of the vandalism and tweeted, "Kuchh din kya saath rehkar gaye woh, Jaate jaate aukaat baat gaye log (The BJP has revealed its true colours with time)".
The reaction of the Congress was not available at the time of writing, since its members were engaged in celebrating the 135th foundation day of the party.
The deputy leader and spokesperson of the Shiv Sena, Priyanka Chaturvedi told this paper, "We are not reacting to this but the people of Maharashtra have seen these pictures and it is for them to decide."
Shiv Sena spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said those who have painted the walls have had their faces blackened. "The wall can be repainted, but those who have done this have got their faces blackened," stated Raut.
The office of Devendra Fadnavis has accused the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of indulging in cheap politics to tarnish the image of the former CM.
"The act is the work of someone who has access to the bungalow. Presently, the bungalow has been allotted to CM Uddhav Thackeray and the keys are in his custody," said the statement.
Fadnavis's wife, Amruta said, it has been more than three weeks since they had vacated the bungalow and the walls had been pristine when they left.
Workers of the Maharashtra Public Works department (PWD) were startled to find graffiti on the walls of a few rooms inside the bungalow on Saturday morning, while on a maintenance inspection drive.
The plush Malabar Hill bungalow had been vacated by former CM Devendra Fadnavis earlier in December and currently, the keys of the bungalow are with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
There were gardeners and security on duty but they do not have access to the bungalow.
On the day he took charge as the chief minister, Thackeray had made it clear he wouldn't be occupying the bungalow but would only be using it for official purposes.
On the white walls of a couple of rooms, scribbled in red, blue, black, green and violet ink were statements like VVIP, 'Shut up' and 'UT is mean'. Other scribbles took on a swag note: Devendra rox, BJP ROX. A switchboard was surrounded by scrawls like: Divija Saliha Amruta Devendra} We r happy in any condition unlike 'some good person'. Then the letters BJP enclosed in a heart.
One of the walls proclaimed, "BJP & Sivsena were freind (mabey still are), haha,BJP Rocks' and Divija is ME, ME is Divija."