What they said

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday said he was proud of party leader Abu Azmi for taking a stand on his right to take oath of membership...

Azmi is right,proud of him

LUCKNOW: SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday said he was proud of party leader Abu Azmi for taking a stand on his right to take oath of membership in the Maharashtra Assembly in Hindi,and condemned his manhandling by MNS MLAs for asserting this right. What Abu Azmi did is right,and the act of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS is condemnable, he said. I am proud of Abu Azmi and his act reaffirmed our faith and commitment towards our national language, he added.

Ban MNS,take stern action

PATNA: Demanding a ban on MNS for slapping Abu Azmi,Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday called for legal action against the legislators involved in the unlawful act. It is a highly condemnable act 8230; Stern legal action under the Criminal Procedure Code should be taken against the MLAs of the MNS, he said. Nitish asked the Centre and the Maharashtra government to take a serious note of the incident. We respect Marathi 8230; But at the same time it is intolerable to allow people to show disrespect to Hindi,our national language, he said.

PM must call all-party meet

PATNA: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should immediately convene an all-party meeting to discuss action against MNS chief Raj Thackeray and his legislators in view of the assault on Abu Azmi,RJD president Lalu Prasad said on Monday. The PM should immediately call an all-party meeting to discuss the action to be taken against MNS for deliberately indulging in anti-national activities, he said. The behaviour of MNS legislators who assaulted the SP MLA for taking oath in Hindi defying the diktat of their party chief Raj Thackeray is highly condemnable 8230; It should be treated as an act detrimental to the countrys integrity and unity, he said,urging the Election Commission to derecognise the MNS.

This is Azmis ploy to divide Hindus

NAGPUR: VHP international general secretary Pravin Togadia came down heavily on Abu Azmi for,what he alleged,displaying fake love for Hindi to divide the Hindus along Marathi-Hindi lines. The Hindus should be wary of Azmis design whose father was among the staunchest opponents of Hindi when the Hindi-Urdu conflict was prevalent in Uttar Pradesh, Togadia said. Azmi has now become a thekedaar of Hindi. We dont need an advocate of Urdu to speak about Hindi. This is his ploy to divide the Hindus, Togadia said.

Cong,NCP created MNS monster: BJP

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Monday slammed the MNS action on Abu Azmi and blamed the Congress and the NCP for creating a monster. The BJP strongly condemns this attack on democracy but the Congress and NCP owe an explanation because their tacit support has built MNS into what it is today. They have created a monster just for political purpose to divide Opposition votes, said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar. PTI