After RSS, Congress general secretary hits out at anti-migrant agenda.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi waded again into the acrimonious war of words over the Mumbai-for-Marathis agenda of the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Tuesday.
A few days after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat signalled disapproval of the sectarian agenda of the Sena and the MNS, Gandhi resorted to the Mumbai-for-all refrain in Bihar, triggering sharp reactions from both parties.
“India is for Indians… Every part of India belongs to every Indian,’’ he said, adding, he was not going to remain silent and watch people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar being prevented from going to Maharashtra. The state government would give them protection, if needed, he said.
On Monday, Union home minister P Chidambaram had slammed the Sena and MNS arguments in the Mumbai-for-Marathis debate, calling it a “pernicious thesis’’. The same day in Bihar, Gandhi, referring to the sacrifices of NSG commandos during the 26/11 attacks, had said that north Indians saved Mumbaikars during 26/11.
This got the Sena’s goat, and executive president Uddhav Thackeray, writing in party mouthpiece Saamna, said Rahul had insulted the bravery of Maharashtrian martyrs, including Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte, Vijay Salaskar and Tukaram Omble, apart from NSG Major Sandeep Unnikrishan. “Where was Rahul Gandhi when Mumbai was attacked?” Uddhav asked.
On Tuesday, though, Rahul clarified and said he wasn’t merely talking about north Indians: “In Mumbai (during the terror attacks), men in the NSG came from Bihar, UP, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra. At that time they (the Sena) did not say that those from Bihar and UP should be taken out.’’
Gandhi said he was not interested in the views of Bal Thackeray or (MNS chief) Raj Thackeray.
The MNS held the Gandhis responsible for the spread of terrorism and poverty in the country. Party spokesperson Shirish Parkar said, “People from UP and Bihar come to Maharashtra as their states are underveloped. The Congress, which acts at the behest of the Gandhis, was in power in these states. Why did not they take initiatives for development there? It is their failure,” he said.
Terrorism had found a base in the country because of the wrong policies of the Gandhis.
Reacting to Gandhi’s remarks on NSG personnel, Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi said the Congress leader should ``study the issue and speak.”
Chief minister Ashok Chavan, meanwhile, has rejected the Sena’s allegation that he (Gandhi) had insulted the martyrs of 26/11. “His (Gandhi) statement is not an insult to martyrs. The Sena and the MNS have no other issues to take up. That is the reason they are raking it up,” Chavan said.
(With PTI inputs)
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