The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday boycotted an all-party meeting called by the Maharashtra government to discuss the use of loudspeakers at religious places.

Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said at a press conference that going by recent events, it appeared that the state government had not left any room for conversation. “If someone decides to adopt a Hitler-like mentality, then it is better to engage in struggle rather than conversation,” he said.

Earlier on Monday, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Sandeep Deshpande had said that party leader Raj Thackeray would also not participate in the meeting, ANI reported.

The meeting, however, was held earlier on Monday morning. At the meeting, minister Aaditya Thackeray said that it was decided that a delegation from the state would meet representatives from the Centre and hold discussions on the matter, according to the agency.

On April 2, Raj Thackeray had asked at a rally in Mumbai why mosques used loudspeakers for daily prayers “at such high volume”, according to India Today. He had said that if loudspeakers at mosques were not stopped, there would be loudspeakers outside mosques playing the Hanuman Chalisa at a higher volume.

Since then, the party has criticised the Maharashtra government on the matter and asked it to ban loudspeakers at mosques.

The matter escalated last week after independent legislators, MP Navneet Rana and her husband MLA Ravi Rana, threatened to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s home. The statement angered Shiv Sena workers, who protested outside the couple’s house on April 23 and demanded apology.

The Ranas then cancelled a plan to recite the devotional hymn, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was visiting Mumbai on Sunday. However, hours later arrested for promoting enmity between different groups. The police also invoked sedition charges against them.