Ajit Pawar says NCP won't tolerate hate speeches; tells voters to be wary of Rahul’s anti-quota stance

Pune: Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said that his party will not tolerate any hate speech targeting a caste or religion.
Pawar, addressing supporters in Pune's Chakan area, said that his party's stand is against all those who make statements against any religion or caste which may lead to a rift between two communities. His comment comes days after cases were registered against BJP MLA Nitesh Rane in several police stations for making inflammatory statements.
Without naming Rane, Pawar said, "NCP does not support statements of a member of a party against another community, religion or caste.We have the freedom of expression, but that does not mean that anybody can make inflammatory statements which may lead to rifts between communities in the state."
He added that the NCP will not tolerate such comments. "We will continue to protest against such remarks, and we will not hesitate to take legal action against those making inappropriate remarks," he said.
The deputy chief minister also criticised the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress senior member Rahul Gandhi for his recent remarks on reservation while speaking in the US.
Pawar said, "The opposition set a fake narrative during the Lok Sabha campaign and misled dalit and adivasi communities. Now, Rahul Gandhi has said that they (Congress) want to do away with reservation. Dalit and adivasi communities should note that he will later blame us saying that we want to change the Constitution and end reservation."
He added that they were with both communities and in favour of reservation. "Some people voted emotionally in the Lok Sabha poll. But now, I appeal to voters to be careful in the assembly election and not fall prey to fake narratives," he added.
He told the police department to take strict action against illegal activities in their jurisdiction. "Govt has approved seven new police stations for Pune police commissionerate and four new police stations for Pimpri Chinchwad police commissionerate. We have allotted funds for new vehicles for the police department. We want policing to be more impactful. Law and order has to be maintained at any cost," he said.