Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis on Monday attacked the Opposition, calling CJP a “Congress Jitao Programme” and Rahul Gandhi’s “Chhatron Ki Goonj” a campaign of lies. Speaking in Pune, he also urged citizens to celebrate Ganeshotsav traditionally, avoiding controversies over DJs and loudspeakers
Published Date – 31 August 2026, 06:59 PM
Pune: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday dubbed the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) as “Congress Jitao Programme”, and accused the Opposition of forcing a political contest over isolated issues after failing to defeat the BJP ideologically. Addressing the BJP’s state-level convention in Pune, Fadnavis hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s student outreach programme, “Chhatron Ki Goonj”, terming it as “Jhooth Ki Goonj” (Echo of lies).
“The Opposition has understood that they can not win the battle of ideology, which is why they are resorting to the battle of issues. But we will not lose this battle; we will win it, the way we broke their fake narrative,” Fadnavis said, adding that the Opposition has resorted to taking up issues of the Ayodhya Ram Temple donation theft and condition of Zilla Parishad schools.
“We have to win this battle. At the same time, CJP is not a small group; it is essentially a Congress Jitao Programme,” he remarked. He further slammed Gandhi’s Chhatron Ki Goonj programme, calling it full of lies.
“Chhatron Ki Goonj is actually a Jhoot ko Goonj,” he said, citing a website that claims to have fact-checked the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition’s statements made during the campaign.
Commenting on the current debate in Pune over the use of loudspeakers and noise pollution during Ganeshotsav, Fadnavis said that the city has the potential to show the rest of the state how the festival can be celebrated in keeping with traditions.
“I am confident that instead of getting into a controversy over whether Ganeshotsav should be celebrated with or without DJs and loudspeakers, Punekars will choose to celebrate the festival entirely in the traditional way,” he said.
