Uddhav also warns outside workers
Prerna Thakurdesai
Sunday, February 10, 2008, (Mumbai)
First it was Raj Thackeray who attacked non-Maharshtrians and now his estranged cousin Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray has played the same card.
Worried that Raj may be 'hijacking' the 'Marathi pride' plank, Uddhav has told supporters that the Sena will not tolerate workers 'brought from outside' for the modernisation of Mumbai airport and they'll be sent back on a cargo plane.
"One lakh jobs will be created under airport modernisation. Maharashtrians should be given priority for these jobs. If they don't, we'll send north Indians back in a cargo plane," said Uddhav Thackeray, executive president, Shiv Sena.
Divisive politics is assuming yet another dimension and estranged cousins are coming together on a common ideology - wooing the Marathi vote bank, telling "outsiders" they are not welcome in Mumbai.
So, after the politics of tolerance, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray is returning to the Sena's old plank, a game of one-upmanship after cousin Raj launched his recent tirade against north Indians.
"If they don't behave themselves, then the next time they will need permission from Maharashtrians to enter the city," said Raj Thackeray, Leader, MNS.
"All the boards inside say 'GVK welcomes you'. It should instead say 'Mumbai Welcomes You.' What is GVK? Do they now own Mumbai," said Kiran Pawaskar, leader, Bhartiya Kamgar Sena.
But the MNS, a breakaway of the Shiv Sena, calls it hollow rhetoric.
"The Sena is worried about its existence after Modi hinted at coming to Maharashtra. Now they want to go back to Balasaheb's agendas, now that we have raked it up," said Shirish Parkar, spokesperson, MNS.
The outsider vs. Maharashtrian debate has turned into a Thackeray vs. Thackeray face-off, squabbling cousins with the same ideology but bullying each other to prove a point to the Marathi Manoos.