Taking a swipe at the MNS chief, Patil said some parties were discussing Hanuman Chalisa instead of pressing issues like hike in prices of fuel, cement and steel.
The din created by Raj Thackeray's statements against loudspeakers atop mosques will soon bring All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi into the picture, which will lead to the start of communal tension in Maharashtra, said state minister and NCP leader Jayant Patil on Saturday.
Speaking at the NCP's 'Parivar Samvad Yatra', he said his party was organising aarti and prayers on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti as well as 'iftar' amid Ramzan as it believed in "sarva dharma sama bhava" (equality of paths of all religions).
Taking a swipe at the MNS chief, Patil said some parties were discussing Hanuman Chalisa instead of pressing issues like hike in prices of fuel, cement and steel.
"Gods are being used for political purposes. There is a deliberate attempt to create communal tension in the state. On one side we have Raj Thackeray, and after some days Owaisi will come into the picture. It will lead to the start of communal tension," Patil, also state unit chief of the NCP, claimed.