At the Hindu Mahotsav event, BJP MLA and Cabinet Minister Nitesh Rane delivered a speech laced with anti-Muslim overtones, using coded language to target Muslims. He said, “These green snakes who live among us, I hope they heard Sangram Bapu and Sagar’s message clearly.” He propagated the conspiracy of ‘love jihad’ and promoted an economic boycott of Muslims, stating, “Be careful where you shop from. These green snakes write ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on their shops but turn out to be Abduls! Check their Aadhaar cards. You feed them milk, and they conspire to create an Islamic country in India.”