MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s controversial views about North Indians in Maharashtra drew sharper criticism from politicians in Bihar on Sunday, while the state’s intelligentsia found the leader’s arguments smacking of both political immaturity and opportunism.
Citing the Thackeray family’s Bihari ancestry, as found mentioned in a book, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav attacked the MNS leader for his threat to declare Bihari migrants in Maharashtra as infiltrators.
Mr Yadav described the Thackerays themselves as “infiltrators” in Mumbai who might have to leave that city soon.
“The Thackerays’ forefathers hailed from Bihar and migrated to Mumbai generations ago as has been corroborated by a book written by a late Thackeray family member. If they call Bihari migrants in Mumbai infiltrators, then the Thackerays themselves are infiltrators,” said Mr Yadav, a former chief minister of Bihar.
“If they (the Thackerays) do not stop speaking in such language, they may themselves soon face being thrown out of Mumbai,” said Mr Yadav to journalists.
Asserting that the hard work of Bihari migrants in Mumbai has been contributing to the growth of India’s commercial hub, Mr Yadav said, “They (Bihari migrants) are not creating any trouble there, so they have the full right to stay there.”
Meanwhile, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan Paswan described the recent anti-Bihari diatribes of the MNS chief as those of a “deranged man” and said: “Such men (as Raj Thackeray) should be sent to the mental asylums in Ranchi or Agra, and their statements should not be given any importance”.