NE NEWS SERVICE
RAJKOT/CHENNAI, OCT 22
Days after Tamil Nadu CM Stalin had written a letter to Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal to permit sale of firecrackers on Diwali, Gujarat BJP chief C R Paatil has hit out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over his government’s decision to completely ban firecrackers in the national capital, and dubbed such people “anti-religious” who were stopping citizens from celebrating their festivals.
પ્રદેશ મહામંત્રી શ્રી @VinodChavdaBJP જી, રાજકોટ શહેર પ્રમુખ શ્રી કમલેશભાઈ મીરાણી, રાજ્યકક્ષાના મંત્રી શ્રી @iArvindRaiyani જી, મેયર શ્રી પ્રદીપભાઈ ડવ સહિત આગેવાનો, પદાધિકારીઓ અને મોટી સંખ્યામાં કાર્યકર્તાઓ પણ ઉપસ્થિત રહ્યાં. pic.twitter.com/64GXFVOjlz
— C R Paatil (Modi Ka Parivar) (@CRPaatil) October 22, 2022
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government last month re-imposed a complete ban on the production, sale and use of all types of firecrackers till January 1, 2023, including on Diwali, a practice it has been following for the last two years.
- Tamil Nadu CM Stalin writes to Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal to permit sale of firecrackers on Diwali
- The Delhi government banned the production, storage, sale, and usage of all kinds of firecrackers on September 7.
- The ban on firecrackers will remain till January 1, 2023.
- Notably, the Supreme Court on October 10 refused to lift the ban on firecrackers in Delhi.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai recently said bursting of firecrackers on Diwali in Delhi will attract a jail term of up to six months and a fine of Rs 200.
Tamil Nadu’s firecracker manufacturing hub loses 1.5 lakh jobs due to blanked ban#TamilNadu https://t.co/dsG75066uu
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) October 20, 2022
Production, storage and sale of firecrackers in the capital will be punishable with a fine of up to Rs 5,000 and three years jail under Section 9B of the Explosives Act, Rai had said.
Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls due later this year, AAP national convener Kejriwal has visited the state multiple times in the recent past to garner support for his party.
Justice MR Shah said, "Please let the people breath fresh air. There are so many other ways of celebrations. You can spend your money on sweets."#firecrackers #firecrackerban
— LawBeat (@LawBeatInd) October 20, 2022
Addressing a gathering after a firecrackers show organised here on Saturday, Gujarat BJP chief Paatil said, “Today I read some news that the chief minister of Delhi has imposed a ban on firecrackers in Delhi. That brother is trying to come here (for?? elections in Gujarat). Then how will you burst firecrackers?” “So please recognise such anti-religious people and against firecrackers who stop us from celebrating our festivals,” Paatil said.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government had said the ban on crackers was imposed on the orders of Supreme Court and the BJP leaders were showing disrespect to the court.
BJP leaders had targeted the Delhi government over the complete ban on firecrackers, dubbing the Kejriwal-led dispensation “anti-Hindu”.
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari recently said Chief Minister Kejriwal should allow people in Delhi to burst crackers for two-three hours on Diwali.
The AAP has been trying to position itself as the main contender to the ruling BJP in Gujarat where elections are due later this year.
Kejriwal has anchored his party’s campaign around a slew of guarantees like 300 units of free electricity per month, free education in government schools, sops for unemployed youth, Rs 1,000 allowance to women and a monthly stipend for new lawyers.
Tamil Nadu CM Stalin writes to Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal to permit sale of firecrackers on Diwali
A fortnight ago, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote to Delhi’s CM Arvind Kejriwal, urging him to permit the sale of firecrackers under permissible norms on Diwali in the national capital.
CM Stalin said 70% of the annual revenue of Tamil Nadu’s Sivakasi comes from the sale of firecrackers on Diwali.
The city of Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district is known as a hub of firecracker manufacturers in India and has over 6.5 lakh families, directly and indirectly, dependent on this industry for their livelihood.
The Delhi government banned the production, storage, sale, and usage of all kinds of firecrackers on September 7. The ban on firecrackers will remain till January 1, 2023.
Notably, the Supreme Court on October 10 refused to lift the ban on firecrackers in Delhi.
“We will not lift the ban on firecrackers in the National Capital Region. Our order is very clear,” the top court said.
