Mukesh invites Thackeray ire

Two months after inviting the wrath of many for slamming Sachin Tendulkar for saying that Mumbai belonged to all,Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has done it again.

Two months after inviting the wrath of many for slamming Sachin Tendulkar for saying that Mumbai belonged to all,Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has done it again. On Friday,he came down heavily on industrialist Mukesh Ambani for saying the same thing and declared,Maharashtrians have the same right over Mumbai as Mukesh Ambani has over the Reliance companies.

Thackeray said,in a statement,that Mumbai was the capital of Maharashtra and would stay so,and added that many celebrities were unnecessarily competing to make statements about Mumbai.

Participating in a panel discussion in London at the launch of Not by Reason Alone: The Politics of Change in India by Rajya Sabha MP and former bureaucrat N K Singh,Ambani had said Mumbai belonged to all Indians and its cabbies were trapped in the licence raj. We are all Indians first. Our cities whether Mumbai,New Delhi,Kolkata or Chennai belong to all Indians. There should be equal opportunities. We,in corporate India,have got out of the licence raj but the poor taxiwallah is still trapped, he had said.

Pandit Mukesh Ambani has made enlightened statements about cities like Mumbai,Chennai,Delhi belonging to the entire country. Then why were cities like Ahmedabad,Jamnagar,Rajkot excluded? This is a question. He should search for the answer himself. But today,we are stressing and warning all industrialists,including Mukesh Ambani Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra and will stay the capital of Maharashtra. Only Maharashtrians will have the first right over Mumbai, said Thackeray,while making references to the Samyukta Maharashtra struggle that called for the creation of a unified state of Maharashtra with its capital at Mumbai.

No one should dare to look at Mumbai and the Maharashtrians with an evil eye; even if it is an industrialist or an entrepreneur. The Maharashtrians have the same right over Mumbai as Mukesh Ambani has over the Reliance companies. The only difference is that your right is that for business while the right of Maharashtrians is of pride. We are warning you against taking on the Maharashtrians.