‘Is he in sound mind ?’ BJP’s Anil Shelar questions Maharashtra CM after order to probe celebrity tweets

Maharashtra BJP leader Ashish Shelar on Monday opposed the probe ordered by the state’s home minister Anil Deshmukh into the recent tweets posted by Indian celebrities in response to posts by global celebrities on the ongoing farmers' protest.

“I doubt if Maharashtra home minister thinks before speaking. Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar are not just celebrities, they're Bharat Ratna recipients. We condemn any inquiry into their chats. We want to ask Uddhav Thackeray ji, is he in sound mind ?” Shelar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

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Shelar also slammed the Congress party for demanding the investigations in the first place. “Cong [Congress] DEMANDS MVA Govt INVESTIGATE Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Didi for tweets supporting United India ! First Palghar, then free Mahek,escape Sharjil, NOW Enquiry of Sachin ! Greed for power made Sena abandon Maharashtra, Our icons & India !” he tweeted earlier on Monday.

The order by home minister Deshmukh has drawn the ire of the Maharashtra BJP unit. Former chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis too, had expressed his opposition to the announcement earlier on Monday. “Disgusting & highly deplorable ! Where is your Marathi Pride now ? Where is your Maharashtra Dharma ? We will never find such ‘ratnas’ (gems) in entire Nation who order probe against BharatRatnas who always stand strong in one voice for our Nation !” he had tweeted.

Joining the list of leaders who have opposed the move, independent MP from Amravati constituency Navneet Rana said, “National heroes don't have to prove anyone whether they're in favour of the nation or against it. It's a democracy, we can express ourselves whenever we want. If someone is judging celebrities on basis of a tweet,then they're anti-India,” as reported by news agency ANI.

On February 3, many celebrities including cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and singer Lata Mangeshkar have tweeted that India is capable of solving its own problems after pop singer Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg have tweeted in support of the farmers protesting in Delhi. Earlier on Monday, Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh had assured a Congress delegation that an investigation into such tweets by Indian celebrities would be launched to find if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had pressured them to do so.