MUMBAI: After a brief lull, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray on Saturday revived his pro-Marathi plan ahead of the parliamentary elections.
The MNS leader came down heavily on politicians representing Maharashtra at the center and criticized them for not looking after the interests of the state.
Addressing a rally in Thane late Saturday, Raj said, “When I come to power, I would show how to make a difference.”
However, he refrained from disclosing his election strategy, when he said, “Let the elections come, we will decide what has to be done.”
Raj reiterated his stand on the issue of migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and quoted former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi supporting the stance.
“Indira Gandhi had said in parliament on Dec. 13, 1972, that though she was opposed to any legislation to prevent migration from one state to another, she had stressed that somewhere a balance is needed and locals should get preference,” Raj said.
Raising his fist in anger, Raj said that whenever there is an important issue concerning any state whether it is from UP, Bihar or south Indian states, their members of Parliament should unite and speak in one voice. “But in our case, that does not happen. As we know politicians from our state are spineless,” he said.
He also said that the coastal defense of Maharashtra has not been fortified and this was responsible for the Mumbai attacks on Nov. 26 last year.
“Nearly 350 years ago, the Maratha King Shivaji had said that the attack would come from sea. But we did not learn from him. The RDX for the March 12, 1993 came from sea route, but we did not do anything and now the terrorists came from the sea route,” he said.
Raj also pointed out that if one goes by official records of the recent spate of blasts in the country, one would find that most of the terrorists are from Uttar Pradesh cities like Azamgarh and Jaunpur. “You ask the police, they will tell,” he said.
“For the sake of Maharashtra and Marathi people, I am prepared to go to the prison any number of times and will not retract my steps. I have no objection to the migrants who have stayed in the state for generations, but new migration of people from other states should be stopped now,” Raj said.
The MNS chief warned that it was mandatory for people residing in Maharashtra to speak the regional Marathi language. It is a must, no exception to it. If every Marathi person does not remain alert and stop the new migration, then we will have to remain dependent on the migrant people. Keeping aside the religious politics, every Marathi person should come on a united platform to fight out the new migrants, Raj said and alleged that the goons coming from UP were spoiling the culture of Maharashtra.
Pitching his voice in anger about the media questioning his whereabouts on the day terrorists attacked Mumbai in November, Raj said “nobody asked Uttar Pradesh brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan where was he when one person was killed on the eve of UP chief minister Mayawati’s birthday. Then why did these Hindi and English TV channel bosses in Delhi ask where I was after 26/11 ? The English and Hindi TV media created a drama out of the 26/11 terror attacks. Who will hold them answerable’’, he asked.
