NCP questions Maha CM's silence on BJP MLA's remarks

The NCP Friday questioned the "silence" of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on a BJP MLA's comments made earlier this week that he would kidnap girls to help boys get married.

The opposition party further asked Fadnavis if the "tendency" shown by the MLA had the tacit approval of the ruling BJP.

The NCP posed this question as part of its "56 questions to those with 56-inch chest" campaign launched Thursday to target the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Modi had claimed at an election rally that only a person with a "56-inch chest" could solve problems faced by the country.

Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil and party leaders Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, Dhananjay Munde, Nawab Malik and others posed the question, as part of the campaign, on Twitter.

"The chief minister has still not reacted to MLA Ram Kadam's obscene remark. Does this mean the tendency as shown by Ram Kadam has tacit approval of the BJP?" the leaders asked on the micro-blogging site.

Kadam stirred a controversy Monday during Janmashtami celebrations in suburban Ghatkopar by claiming that he would "kidnap the girl a boy likes and hand her over if the boy's parents approved".

A video clip of his utterance at the festivities went viral the next day, leading to widespread condemnation from political parties as well as citizens' groups.

Kadam had apologised but maintained that political rivals had distorted his comments.

As part of the "56 inch chest" campaign, the NCP had Thursday taken the ruling BJP to task over the continuous rise in fuel prices as well as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.