People Will Not Tolerate ‘Zero’ Annamalai Insulting M’rashtra: Aaditya Thackeray

A day after controversy erupted over Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Annamalai’s statement on Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aadtiya Thackeray on Monday said that it has been made clear that the party only wants to insult and “loot” the state.

“Annamalai is the face of the BJP, which is zero. He could not win there and save their own deposit. It was shown that the next PM will be him only, but actually, they are a Zero that Tamil Nadu has shown. Whereas (CM) Stalin has been bringing forward Tamil Nadu at such a speed, these people are only fighting, hurling abuses. Annamalai has insulted Maharashtra, and the state will not tolerate this. Annamalai and the BJP have insulted Maharashtra,” Thackeray told reporters here in Mumbai.

Thackeray’s statement comes a day after BJP leader Annamalai said that Mumbai is an “international city, and not a city of Maharashtra”, while addressing a rally in Mumbai’s Dharavi ahead of the upcoming BMC polls.

The UBT leader claimed that the BJP is constantly trying to keep people “busy” with various welfare schemes or communal issues, while selling the whole state to industrialists.

“Whatever the (BJP) government does, the people are aware that the government has no love for Mumbai, or for Maharashtra. The people see how they keep us busy in Ladki Bahin, or in Hindu-Muslim, but the whole of Maharashtra is being given for free to industrialists. This is not governance, this is misgovernance,” he said.

Earlier, as Annamalai called for a “triple engine government” in Maharashtra, he had said, “Bombay is not a Maharashtra city, but an international city,” while campaigning in Dharavi and Sion Koliwada areas for the party.

“Mumbai needs a triple-engine government. We need a BJP mayor in Mumbai, with (Maharashtra) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the state, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre. Mumbai is a global metropolis which has a budget of over Rs 40,000 crore. Bengaluru’s budget is Rs 19,000 crore, while Chennai’s is Rs 8,000 crore. You need good people who sit in the administration to manage the finance,” Annamalai added.

This elicited strong reactions from opposition political parties, including from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, who called Annamalai ‘Rasmalai.’

“One rasmalai came from Tamil Nadu…what is your connection to here?Hatao lungi bajao pungi,” Raj Thackeray had said, referencing the slogan from the 1960s and 70s of the Shiv Sena that was founded by Raj Thackeray’s uncle, Balasaheb Thackeray.

Replying to the jibe, the BJP leader said, “Who are Aditya Thackeray and Raj Thackeray to threaten me? I am proud to be a farmer’s son. They have organised meetings just to abuse me. I don’t know whether I have become that important.”

The State Election Commission in Maharashtra has announced elections to 29 municipal corporations across the state, including the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). Polling will be held on January 15, with counting scheduled for January 16. (ANI)