In an interview with “Saamna” published on Monday, Thackeray said Marathi speaking majority people in the bordering city of Belgaum in the state of Karnataka would not get any support in a long-running border issue. He said this was because the minister was from Karnatka himself. “Dismiss Moily and appoint a new law minister in his place who will deliver fair and impartial justice,” Thackeray demanded. Thackeray, who had kept a low profile for a long time due to his illness, had reemerged to express his views on the ongoing dispute between Maharashtra and Karnatka.

Thackeray alleged that the Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in New Delhi was being unfair on the issue of whether the largely Marathi speaking cities of Belgaum, Karwar and Nipani should be part of Maharashtra.  “The Congress party has made the politics rotten in the entire country. For its vested and selfish interests, the Congress has ruined the judicial system as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the premier investigating agency of the country.”

“Before, there was some faith in the judiciary. But the federal government has now brought the judiciary under its complete control. The federal government appoints justices to the high and Supreme Court, and the federal law minister plays a crucial role in the appointments of judges. The law minister is a ‘Kannadgi,’ so the question is how will the Marathi speaking people in the border areas get justice.” He said that if the judges of the Supreme Court are under the control of the federal law minister, it is difficult for them to deliver a fair as well as an independent judgment on the border issue.

“Since Moily is a ‘Kannadgi,’ he has presented a begging kind of affidavit in the Supreme Court against Maharashtra,” added Thackeray.

“This is the evidence of his discrimination against the state as well as against Maharashtrians. Only the early dismissal of Moily would pave the way for judges to deliver an impartial judgment, which would help Marathi speaking people get their long demanded rights to integrate the border cities with Maharashtra.”