Now, Thackeray says migrants a nuisance

In the latest edition of Saamna, the Sena mouthpiece, Thackeray slammed the demand by some north Indian corporators to introduce Hindi as an official language. The official language of the civic body is Marathi.

Besides, Saamna also published an editorial on the issue of migrants, cautioning the BMC as well as Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to be on their guard on the issue.

“Since its formation, Maharashtra is facing the nuisance of migrants, they are a burden on Maharashtra’s land,” Thackeray said.

“Because of outsiders, cities like Mumbai are dying. Tall towers have come up but life has become unaffordable for the middle class, the situation in Mumbai is such that builders of towers and buyers are both outsiders, having nothing to do with Maharashtra’s culture,” he said.

Thackeray said the Sena would never tolerate introduction of Hindi as an official language in BMC as, if accepted, it could lead to a similar demand in the Legislative Assembly.

“We say that if it is not possible to stop (migrants), at least don’t roll out a carpet to welcome them,” the editorial said.

The editorial demanded action against Congress leaders in the BMC for demanding Hindi as an official language.

Taking a dig at Deshmukh, the editorial said he was aware of the nuisance of migrants as Saint Naroba (for Narayan Rane) had migrated to the Congress “and is crawling up his chair like a bedbug”.

Separately, Goregaon MLA and Sena spokesperson Subhash Desai also voiced the party’s opposition to the use of Hindi as an official language in the BMC and said the Sena would celebrate February 27 as “Marathi Bhasha Divas”.

Desai told reporters that all local bodies in Maharashtra used Marathi as their official language and BMC could not be an exception.

He indicated that the Sena would oppose the proposal when it was tabled in the House. The Sena, which has launched a statewide campaign to demand loan waivers for farmers, would also demonstrate on February 26 to mobilise farmers against the state and Central governments.

Desai said though the Centre was making moves to ensure loan waivers, there were fears that such measures might turn out to be cosmetic and pointed out that suicides in Vidharbha had increased after relief packages announced by the state and Centre.