Mumbai:
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Thursday issued a diktat to his partymen to welcome Rahul Gandhi with black flags to protest his 'Mumbai for all Indians' remark. But undeterred by the verbal assault, the Congress leader will go ahead with his visit to the city on Friday.
"The Italian prince is on a visit to Mumbai on Friday. Welcome him with black flags," the ailing Sena patriarch commanded his partymen through a statement.
In an apparent attempt to present itself in the aggressive mould that was once its hallmark, the Sena chief and his heir Uddhav, the party's executive president, have let loose a verbal volley at Rahul for his recent remarks that Mumbai belonged to all Indians.
"Who killed the terrorists who had attacked Mumbai? They were the NSG guys from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and from the rest of the country. At that time they did not say throw away Biharis. If terrorists have to be fought, let Biharis remain in Mumbai," the Congress general secretary had recently said in Bihar ticking off the Sena over its 'Mumbai for Marathis' stand.
Uddhav saw a conspiracy in the 'Mumbai for all' debate to separate the metropolis from Maharashtra. "Why is there a sudden controversy over Mumbai when nothing has happened here?
It is a conspiracy to separate the city from Maharashtra and we will never let it happen," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"Nobody should think that Shiv Sena has softened its stand on Mumbai. We would take to the streets to save Mumbai and keep Maharashtra united," said Uddhav, under whose stewardship the party ceded significant political space to estranged cousin Raj Thakeray's MNS.
He questioned the timing of Rahul's visit, saying "What is the need for this visit now. There may be elections in Bihar, but we will not tolerate anything spoken against Mumbai and Marathi pride." Uddhav was apparently suggesting that Rahul's remarks were made with an eye on Bihar assembly polls due later this year.
Bal Thackeray too got ballistic and personal while targeting the Congress leader whom he described as "totally frustrated". The Shiv Sena patriarch raked up the question of Congress President Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, saying "Mumbai may belong to all Indians but how can it belong to an Italian mummy."
However, unfazed by the verbal onslaught, Rahul will arrive here tomorrow on a brief visit to interact with students and slum youth as part of the membership drive launched by the Mumbai Youth Congress.
Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has sought to allay apprehensions over Rahul's security. "The Congress leader has SPG cover and the state police machinery will also be in place during his visit."
Chavan slammed Uddhav and Raj Thackeray for "touching a new low" in politics with their utterances against Rahul.
"Nowhere in Indian politics, such a low level of personal allegations is seen. I condemn their utterances," he told journalists in Pune, while dubbing their posturings as part of the "political agenda" by the Shiv Sena and MNS bracing up for Mumbai civic elections.