Mumbai: Shiv Sena on Thursday took a swipe at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and said Chief Minister's stand might be good but Bharat Mata's children are struggling to access water.
In its mouthpiece 'Saamna', BJP ally Shiv Sena said, "The Chief Minister's stand might be good but Bharat Mata's children are struggling to access water. Bharat Mata's kids are turning against each other in their quest to get water. The Chief Minister's sentiment to resign over 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' row should reflect on water crisis."
Hitting out at Sena, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said, "First time in 15 years a government, a Chief Minister is firm in his resolve to tackle drought. About the Saamna and the Sena, we need not pay attention to what they say on this. Are they part of the govt or the part of the opposition, you ask them."
On Wednesday, the BCCI and cricket associations came under severe criticism from the Bombay High Court which said in view of the grim water crunch in Maharashtra due to drought it would be better to shift the Indian Premier League matches outside the state.
Hearing a petition filed by Loksatta Movement which challenged use of 60 lakh litres of water to maintain pitches at three stadiums where IPL matches would be held from April 9, a division bench headed by Justice VM Kanade said it was the state government's responsibility to impose restraint on use of water during drought.
In a related development, a different bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka declined to hear a similar petition filed by activist Ketan Tirodkar against water use in IPL matches, asking the petitioner to move an appropriate bench.
Hearing petition of Loksatta Movement, Justice Kanade hit out at the Cricket Board for holding IPL matches in the state reeling under drought and observed, "only if water supply to BCCI is cut, you will understand."
The bench asked BCCI and the cricket associations, "How can you waste water like this....Are people more important or your IPL matches?...How can you be so careless? Who wastes water like this? This is criminal wastage. You know what the condition is in Maharashtra (about drought).
"Ideally, you should shift the IPL matches to some other state where water is in abundance," the court observed.
Notably, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla had ruled out shifting the matches out of Maharashtra on account of the drought and water scarcity.
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