Thackeray gives Rane another ultimatum to dislodge DF government

On the controversy over Azharuddin, Thackeray said it was unfortunate that Azharuddin was blaming others though none of the players or officials in India had named him in the match-fixing row. “It is Hansie Cronje who has directly blamed Azharuddin for his alleged involvement in match-fixing. However, Azharuddin has now said he is being targetted for being a Muslim. Now where is the question of the community? He has been captain of the Indian team for more than a decade, but he never mentioned this fact. Now he is raising an uncalled-for issue, which is unfortunate. Look how these people behave! No one knows when they will reverse their stand,” Thackeray pointed out.

On the Mumbai-Pune expressway, the Sena chief said he had already demanded that it should be named after Pu La. “No doubt, he had some differences with me. But nobody can match is literary work,” he remarked.

Thackeray also came down heavily on members of the Fourth Estate, particularly those in Marathi journalism. “All along, a section of members of the Fourth Estate has been criticising the Shiv Sena and its activities for obvious reasons.”

He called upon senior Sena leaders — opposition leader Narayan Rane and Union Minister for Heavy Industries Manohar Joshi — to work for the cause of Maharashtra as well as the Marathi community. “Since you are in Delhi, you must try to get something for Maharashtra as well as members of the Shiv Sena,” he said.

Besides Thackeray, senior party leaders Dattaji Salvi and Pramod Navalkar addressed the meeting. Sena leders Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, Rane and Joshi were present on the occasion.