I’ll trample goondaism of UP, Bihar: Raj

The article titled Majhi bhumika, majha ladha (My stand, my struggle) said, “At this juncture I feel like asking the Maharashtrian people that if I am voicing your true emotion, then why are you sitting on the fence. Come join me in this struggle.”

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi took up the issue of Tamils living in Malaysia, then why can’t the MNS chief speak for Maharashtrians, the article asked.

Raj said, “If the Prime Minister can rake up the issue of ban on turbans for the Sikhs in France when the French President came to India, if Karunanidhi could take up the issue of problems of Tamils in Malaysia with the Malaysian government, if the Hindi channels in Mumbai spew venom against Maharashtra while supporting the people from UP and Bihar, then how come I am dubbed as a ‘goonda’, when I speak about the self-respect of the state?”

Raj Thackeray alleged that many parties in Tamil Nadu maintain ties with the LTTE even though it is responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

He said, “In Tamil Nadu, several political parties maintain ties with the LTTE even though it is responsible for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi only because it speaks about the Tamils.”

He said, “In West Bengal when Sourav Ganguly is dropped from the team, the communists in that region become Bengalis and fight for him. Is this not regionalism?”

“But when I and my party rake up the issue of Marathi pride how is it that we become bad? This is nothing but rubbing salt on the wounds of Marathi people,” he added.

Attacking Amitabh Bachchan, Thackeray said so much has been highlighted that the actor has worked for free for his Marathi makeup man Deepak Sawant’s Marathi film. “But does it mean he (Amitabh) has done any favour to Maharashtra?” he asked.

Thackeray said, “Many people compare the agitation of MNS with Shiv Sena because of the mode of agitation. But the main difference is that while Shiv Sena launched an agitation for the poor Marathi unemployed youth, the agitation of MNS is directed against the “goondaism” of North Indians.”

Commenting on Shiv Sena, Raj Thackeray said, “At the time when Balasaheb (Bal Thackeray) was fully active, Shiv Sena was regarded as the party of the Marathi people. That time I also regarded it as my party and I had been fighting for the Marathi pride. It is not that I have taken a new agenda for my party.”

He said, “Today in this difficult times I and my associates have put our political careers at stake. Some Marathi people are even abusing us. But I know their future generations will thank me for the stand that I have taken.”

Explaining the reason for spearheading the agitation against the North Indians, Thackeray said, “They wanted to make Hindi mandatory in Bombay Municipal Corporation. They started celebrating the Chhatt Puja and Uttar Bharatiya Diwas in a big way.”

“We will put a stop to the ‘Dadagiri’ of people of UP and Bihar in Maharashtra,” he added.