Maharashtra government assures to reduce restrictions on festivals

Devendra Fadnavis

Just a day after Shiv Sena said that the party would continue to celebrate festivals by defying regulations, if the meeting scheduled with CM Devendra Fadnavis did not yield any results, city BJP chief Ashish Shelar said that the state would bring in an ordinance to relax the rules. Organisers and patrons have been demanding changes in the regulations, as they consider them to be unwarranted restrictions that mar festivities.

Shelar said this after a delegation of Ganesh mandals, BJP representatives and Sena leader Anil Parab met the CM and handed over a memorandum, which mentioned the demands raised by party chief Uddhav Thackeray.

He further said that the government was mulling over a move to relax the restrictions on using loud speakers and the height of Govinda.

Parab said, "The state has told courts that the police are not authorised to allow loud speakers during festivals. As 80% of Ganesh mandals in the city fall under silent zones, they would be denied permission."

Stressing on the fact that festivals were the party's point of origin, Parab said, "The party had its genesis in such festivals. The BJP is just like a mushroom, that grew only after coming to power."