Maharashtra: Sambhaji Bhide booked for remarks on Mahatma Gandhi

Sambhaji Bhide. File photo

The police in Maharashtra's Amravati district on Saturday registered a case against right-wing activist Sambhaji Bhide for his alleged derogatory remarks on Mahatma Gandhi, a day after the Congress raised the matter in the assembly, an official said, as reported by news agency PTI.

The Rajapeth police have registered the case against Bhide under Indian Penal Code section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), the official said.

According to news agency PTI, the Congress party has accused Bhide, the founder of Shri Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan outfit, of making offensive remarks about the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, in his speech during a programme in the Amravati district on Thursday, July 27.

Bhide, who is on a tour of Vidarbha, had addressed a gathering in Bharat Mangal Hall in Badnera Road area in Amravati.

Earlier, Congress state secretary Nandkishore Kuyate filed a complaint against Bhide at Rajapeth police station and demanded that a case be registered against him. On Friday, Maharashtra Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Balasaheb Thorat demanded strict action against Bhide, terming his comments shameful.

"Sambhaji Bhide has a twisted mindset. His comments about the Father of the Nation have disturbed the country. He repeatedly makes controversial comments and it needs to be found out who is backing him for political interests. We want strict action against him," said the former minister.

Without taking names, he claimed that a machinery was working to finish off progressive ideology. Thorat's colleague and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan sought Bhide's arrest.

"If such a person is making a defamatory statement regarding Mahatma Gandhi, then he has no right to roam (freely) in the state," Chavan said in the assembly. In the past too, Bhide has drawn flak for his controversial comments.

Earlier in January 2022, the Wardha police arrested Hindu religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj in connection with a case registered against him in Maharashtra for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Mahatma Gandhi. The seer was brought from Raipur in Chhattisgarh, where he was lodged in a jail in connection with a similar case registered against him there, sub-divisional officer of police Piyush Jagtap had said. Earlier, Kalicharan Maharaj had been arrested by the Raipur police for allegedly making derogatory comments about Mahatma Gandhi at an event in the Chhattisgarh capital city on December 26 last year.

(With inputs from PTI)