Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief on Sunday warned that a conspiracy was being hatched by “some” to win the 2019 General Elections. Speaking at a party rally in Mumbai’s iconic Shivaji Park also claimed that the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid case has been raked up and revived for political mileage. He claimed that there will be large scale communal riots between Hindus and Muslims if the Supreme Court pronounces its verdict in Ayodhya dispute case.
“In coming months, there can be Hindu-Muslim riots in the name of Ram Temple. The case before the Supreme Court is being fast tracked to win the 2019 General Elections. According to my information, some people are in talks with Muslim bodies to spark rioting after the Ram temple verdict by the Supreme Court,” Raj Thackeray said without elaborating who he in fact was referring to. However giving a hint about whom he had actually referring to Raj Thackeray slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying, “If the Ram temple is going to be an election issue, then let it be built a year later.”
In his more than an hour long speech on the occasion of Gudi Padwa, Raj Thackeray also said that he was not against building Ram Temple. “I am not against Ram Temple. I am opposed to the way it is being used for political mileage that could even instigate communal riots”, he said.
He also urged all political parties to set aside their differences to make anti-Modi a common cause and to make a reality “Modi mukt Bharat”.
“Today, we have to gear up for the third independence. All political parties should unite to make Modi-mukt Bharat a reality,” he said adding that the anger against the Modi government stemmed from his betrayal of people who had overwhelmingly reposed faith in his leadership in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Raking up the issue of demonetization or note bandi, Raj Thackeray called it the biggest scam in the history of independent India. “If the Narendra Modi government is ousted and an inquiry is ordered into demonetisation, it might turn out to be the biggest scam ever since 1947”, he said.
Raj Thackeray also accused the Modi government of being bias towards Mumbai and Maharashtra. He also slammed the BJP government of focusing only on Gujarat while ignoring other states. “Why are all foreign presidents and prime ministers taken to Ahmedabad and Gujarat. Modi as Prime Minister is only promoting his own state. Why are the foreign heads and the projects not brought in Kolkata, Chennai or Mumbai?” he asked.
Claiming that during the creation of Maharashtra in 1960, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was under tremendous pressure from then Home Minister Vallabhbai Patel to hand over Mumbai to the state of Gujarat, Thackeray said, “Despite all their efforts Mumbai remained with Maharashtra. This is a wound which they still harbour. And this is why they are trying to finish Mumbai’s identity.”
A day after Raj Thackeray’s rally some shops having signboards in Gujarati were attacked in Mumbai, Palghar and Vasai on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway. The workers, many carrying MNS flags, raised anti-Gujarati slogans and damaged signboards in Gujarati language. "Vasai is in Maharashtra, not in Gujarat. We will not tolerate signboards in Gujarati anymore," warned MNS Thane district chief Avinash Jadhav.
Likewise, a 'farsan' seller's shop was targeted in Kandivali and attempts were made to yank off the signboard in Gujarati language. At least a dozen persons have been detained in connection with the two incidents and police have increased patrolling in some Gujarati-dominated pockets.
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