2008 Malegaon blast case: Devendra Fadnavis accuses Congress of indulging in minority appeasement

CM Devendra Fadnavis and Prithviraj Chavan, former chief minister

The verdict in the 2008 Malegaon blast case has sparked a fresh political slugfest between the BJP and Congress. Speaking to the media after the verdict was delivered, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis slammed the Congress for indulging in "minority appeasement" and "vote bank politics".

"Islamic terror was frequently invoked and to counter it, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government coined the term saffron terror," Fadnavis said and demanded that Congress should apologise to the entire Hindu community.

On Thursday, nearly 17 years since the attack was carried out in a Muslim-dominated area, a special court in Mumbai acquitted all seven accused in the case, which was initially investigated by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) before being transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2011.

Fadnavis, who also heads the home department, further stated, "It is not the fault of the police, but of the Congress regime." Reacting to the verdict and Fadnavis's comment, senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, a former chief minister, told mediapersons, "Fadnavis should say that the Maharashtra police is incompetent and initiate action against the errant officials involved in the investigation."

He added that the NIA functions under Union Home Minister Amit Shah. "It is the NIA that has failed to prove the case." Meanwhile, Harshwardhan Sapkal, the state unit Congress president, asked whether the government planned to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.