MUMBAI: A Samajwadi Party legislator from Madhya Pradesh, Kisore Samritay, on Saturday announced a reward of 10 million rupees to kill Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray.
Samritay announced the reward for killing Raj in a news channel interview. "Since the country's legal set-up has surrendered to Raj Thackeray's wishes, we want Raj Thackeray to be killed in public. I'll give 10 million rupees to whoever kills him. I'll also provide legal assistance to him," Samritay said.
The MNS spokesman Shirish Parkar said, "Even after several instances of threats to Raj's life, the Maharashtra government has yet to take a decision to reinstate his Z-plus security. Moreover, Thackeray and his party workers have been targeted for crimes that they are not involved in."
When asked about the Bihari youth Rahul Raj, who had come to Mumbai allegedly with an intention to kill Thackeray, Parkar said, "Looking at these incidents who can say that Rahul Raj was not sent by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and federal Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. We demand that the state government probes this aspect too."
He added that the MNS will be preparing a CD of the SP leader's comment and send it to the state government as well as the local police.
Meanwhile, even as demands from north Indian leaders mounted for the arrest of Raj under the National Security Act, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said here yesterday, "There was no need for it." However, the government would use stronger provisions of the law against the MNS leader, he said. Deshmukh made these remarks at a function to mark the completion of four years of the Congress party-led Democratic Front government in Maharashtra.
"What sections of the law should be used against Raj, is the prerogative and discretion of the state government. Our government has not made any agreement or compromise with Raj. We will act more firmly with him and his party workers," he said. Alluding sarcastically about the language and style of the MNS chief, Deshmukh said that what Raj speaks exhibits the classic example of his culture and upbringing.
In a move to win the confidence of the north Indian community, Deshmukh said that these people residing in Mumbai and the rest of the state have nothing to fear and should remove any fears they have in their minds. "We are the guardians of the north Indians. We are capable of protecting them and assure them of their safety," he said.
In another development, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) put its own party member, Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R.R. Patil, in the dock over the Rahul Raj encounter.
Speaking in Pune yesterday, senior NCP leader and Minister for Public Works Department Chaggan Bhujbal reacted strongly to Patil's recent statement of responding with a "bullet-for-bullet" action in reference to the killing of the Bihari youth. He said, "Bullet-for-bullet response is not the policy of the NCP.
