The controversy surrounding the celebrations of Bihar Divas on April 15 seems to be getting murkier by the day.
The controversy surrounding the celebrations of Bihar Divas on April 15 seems to be getting murkier by the day. The Shiv Sena has now jumped into the fray between leaders of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.
But instead of the hammer-and-tongs approach, Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday reasoned that Bihar should also celebrate Maharashtra Day, just as Bihar Divas is celebrated in Mumbai.
“I will uncover my party’s official stand on this issue only after all other parties do so. But, one thing that’s sure is that if Bihar Divas is celebrated in Mumbai, then Maharashtra Day should also be celebrated in Bihar, on an equally grand scale,” he said.
Thackeray’s guarded reaction is being looked upon as a move to avoid supporting the stand taken by his arch-rival and MNS chief, Raj Thackeray, or hurting the sentiments of north Indians in the city.
So rigid has its opposition been to festivities for Bihar Divas that the MNS even threatened not to let Kumar celebrate the day during his visit to the city. The Bihar CM, though, remained unfazed, saying no one can stop him from attending the event and that he does not require a visa to travel to Mumbai. “There is no hurdle for me to go there; can go to any part of the country; don’t need any type of visa for that. I am going,” Kumar had said soon after the MNS threat.
Meanwhile, at a rally at Malegaon, the MNS chief threw down the gauntlet and dared Kumar to celebrate Bihar Divas in Mumbai. “At a time when I didn’t say a thing, he talked about ‘visa.’ Now, it’s my turn to talk. Kumar should dare to come to Mumbai to celebrate Bihar Divas. He will need a visa from the Marathi manoos to celebrate any programme here,” he warned.
He appealed to home minister RR Patil to ask Kumar not to come to Mumbai on April 15. “I am not against any state. But if he (Kumar) is given a chance today, everyone will come here and that too at the cost of the locals. If you want to celebrate Bihar Divas, celebrate it in Bihar, not in Maharashtra,” he said.
He ended on an ominous note. “If Kumar lands in Mumbai for a programme, just see what I do on April 15.”
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