Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, today, Thursday, May 30, made it amply clear that the state government has not even thought of including a single verse of Manusmriti in any curriculum in the state.

His statement came a day after NCP(SP) legislator Jitendra Awhad tore and burnt the copies of Manusmriti at Mahad and while doing so, unintentionally, tore a poster containing the picture of Dr Ambedkar which led to a controversy, despite his unconditional apology over the incident.

“Maharashtra government has not even thought of including a single verse of Manusmriti in any curriculum. Not today, never. There is no discussion about it. Our opponents lie every day and make excuses for it," said Fadnavis.

On the other hand, NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is strongly opposed to the inclusion of verses of Manusmriti in the curriculum, supported Awhad saying that there was no point in staging a protest against him as he has already tendered an unconditional apology.

State NCP(SP) Chief Jayant Patil also supported his party colleague saying that for more than five decades Awhad has been actively working to protect the ideas of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.