Opposition in Maharashtra has criticised Shiv Sena for blackening the face of ORF chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni and has held Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis responsible for the incident.
"It is hard to believe that Fadnavis was not aware that Shiv Sena can to go to any extent to grab attention and prove its superiority in Mumbai.
"Our CM should have been more proactive and should have provided full security to the people involved in hosting this event, especially given the current background of events in the city. This is a big failure," Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam told reporters here.
He further said that as a preventive measure, potential trouble makers should have been arrested before former Pakistan External Affairs Minister Khurshid Kasuri landed in the city.
"It is unfortunate that he is unable to control his own ally despite being the head of the government and appears vulnerable and weak. The CM's government is becoming irrelevant with each passing day and the common man is feeling more and more insecure," he said.
NCP leader Sachin Ahir, while condemning the smear attack on Kulkarni, said nobody should be allowed to carry out "hooliganism" under the guise of patriotism.
"In a democracy like ours, it is essential to value differences of opinion and its existence. Nobody has a right to attack anybody or indulge in hooliganism in the name of patriotism just because someone carries a different opinion," Ahir said.
"The Sena today, is not the same as it was during the time of Balasaheb Thackeray. Today, the party merely talks without having substance or conviction in its voice. The programme is already done, but the party did not do anything except giving false threats. The countdown of Sena's defeat in the Mumbai civic election has now begun," he added.
"The biggest culprit in this whole sequence of untoward events is our weak Chief Minister of Maharashtra," Ahir said.
Earlier in the day, a black paint was sprayed on Sudheendra for not bowing down to Sena's diktat seeking cancellation of events having Pakistani connections.
