Cong slams Raj’s ‘vote bank’ politics

Mumbai: Expectedly, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s reaching out to north Indians has created buzz in political circles. Opposition parties have slammed Mr Thackeray for terming many north Indians “criminals”. The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have claimed that Mr Thackeray’s speech has created more suspicion among the north Indian community.

Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam has alleged that Mr Thackeray falsely quoted the Constitution.

“The Constitution gives every Indian the right and security to go to any part of the country. But Mr Thackeray is misleading his supporters as well as others. We respect Marathi as a language and also the Maharashtrian culture. But Mr Thackeray is trying to defame it by threatening others,” Mr Nirupam said.

Nationalist Congress Party state chief Jayant Patil said that Mr Thackeray was trying to reach out to north Indians for their votes.

“The Shiv Sena knows that Marathi people won’t vote for them. So, they are taking the Ram Mandir issue to get north Indian votes. The MNS chief knows it and so, he is trying to woo north Indian voters. This is just vote bank politics,” Mr Patil said.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tried to keep matters low key. No leader from either of the parties reacted to the statements made by the MNS chief.