Raj Thackeray's comments spark political furore

Mumbai: Raj Thackeray has managed to bring together Left, Right and Centre in their criticism of a litany of threats he has been making; in Bihar, a case has been registered against him for making hate speeches. (Read: Case filed against Raj Thackeray for hate speech) Political parties also want to know from the Maharashtra government why the MNS chief is getting away with his utterances.

Over the weekend, Mr Thackeray, who heads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena or MNS, first threatened to force people from Bihar out of Maharashtra and then threatened to shut down television channels that, he alleged, were misquoting him.

A livid Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has slammed Mr Thackeray, saying, "The MNS chief's diatribes against Biharis pose a challenge to all governments to deal with a person who has been holding out threat to the migrant people. People have the constitutional right to live and work in any part of the country." He was reacting to the MNS chief saying that he would label Bihari people as "infiltrators" and force them out of Maharashtra if authorities in Bihar took legal action against the Mumbai policemen who nabbed a teenager from there in connection with the August 11 Azad Maidan riots. Abdul Qadir, the teen, was held for allegedly vandalising the Amar Jawan memorial.

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In keeping with the recent warmth in the family, Mr Thackeray has found support for his stand on the Bihar teen from uncle and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray in the latter's party mouthpiece Saamna. But the rest of the political spectrum is aghast at his statement, one that the MNS chief quickly followed up with telling Hindi news channels, "I want to tell the Hindi news channels to first understand the issue before it is broadcast...otherwise we know how to stop it."

Mr Kumar is incredulous. "What kind of Government is the Congress running? How can they allow anybody to say such a thing?" he asked, adding, "It is the duty of the central government and the government of a state to take note of the conduct of a person like Thackeray and deal sternly with such elements." The Congress' Manish Tewari didn't quite answer that but suggested that the MNS chief be ignored. "I request the media to boycott such people who make public communication violent. He gives such statements because he is being given coverage," he said. 

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The Left's Prakash Karat has demanded an investigation into what Raj Thackeray has said and BSP chief Mayawati wants action against him. "Action needs to be taken against Raj Thackeray for using this kind of language for the people and the media," she said, joining the BJP and JD(U) in their criticism of the Congress-led government in Maharashtra. "This is all happening because the state government is giving him the liberty. The state government needs to take action and book him under acts," she said. 

Under increasing pressure to act against Raj Thackeray, Maharashtra's Home Minister RR Patil has insisted that the law will take its course. "The people don't need to be scared by any kind of threats. Full protection will be provided to them," he said. Mr Thackeray has been booked before when his supporters attacked people from north India in Mumbai for a Railway exam, but police sources say that this time there is insufficient ground to apply sections that pertain to inflammatory speech.

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Political analysts say it also benefits the Congress-NCP combine when Raj Thackeray splits the Marathi and Hindutva vote banks. His getting closer to his uncle Bal and cousin Uddhav Thackeray in recent months after years of estrangement have already added to the ruling combine's worry lines as the two partners - the Congress and NCP - struggle to keep together in the run-up to the next Assembly elections in 2014.     

The BJP's Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi smirks as he says, "I think this is Congress sponsored. They (Raj Thackeray and co) come to know what letter the Bihar government wrote to the Maharashtra government before anyone else. The Chief Secretary, Home Secretary tell us about it later; Raj Thackeray tells us first. This has raised several questions," the BJP spokesperson said.

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Sushilkumar Shinde, who is Home Minister and also a senior Maharahstra leader of the Congress would only say today, "In this country, everyone has a right to travel across the country according to our Constitution. This is a democratic right. No one can stop anyone from going anywhere in this country." He also said, "Threatening the media is not the right thing to do."