Zeenews Bureau
Mumbai: Political discourse hit a new low Wednesday with Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray launching a vicious personal attack on Rahul Gandhi and saying the Congress MP was a "victim of the disease" that sets in when a person doesn't get married "despite advancing age".
The tone was set in the morning with Bal Thackeray hitting out at the Congress general secretary for his statements on the role of north Indians in protecting Mumbai during the 26/11 terror attacks.
He said in an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamna: "It seems that since Rahul won't grow any further physically, he has now grown horns and wisdom teeth to make such statements."
"Despite advancing age, if a person does not get married, he becomes frustrated, even Rahul seems to be a victim of this disease and makes stupid remarks," Bal Thackeray lashed out about the 39-year-old Congress general secretary.
"Rahul speaks of the north Indians' contribution during the 26/11 attacks, but in Kashmir, maximum number of soldiers from Maharashtra sacrificed themselves to protect the national borders."
The Sena leader said Mumbai was not a "dharamshala"
(guest house) of the country that "anyone comes to Mumbai,
spits here and leaves."
Rahul Gandhi's comments at a press conference in Bihar Tuesday that "every part of India belongs to every Indian" angered Uddhav Thackeray as well.
The Shiv Sena, Rahul Gandhi had said, was silent when National Security Guard (NSG) personnel from various parts of India fought Pakistani terrorists during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. "In Mumbai, men in the NSG were from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra. At that time, they (Shiv Sena) were silent and did not say that those from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh should be taken out."
Acting in tandem, Uddhav raised questions on the
timing of Rahul' visit to Mumbai scheduled later this week
asked, "what was the need for this visit now.
There may be elections in Bihar, but we will not tolerate
anything spoken against Mumbai and Marathi pride."
Hitting back at Shiv Sena for its remarks against Rahul ,
senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh dubbed the Thackerays as
"paper tigers".
"They (Thackerays) are paper tigers. There is no need to
pay much attention to them," he said in Varanasi.
Reacting to the unabated tirade against North Indians by
the Sena outfits, Rahul had yesterday said, "I will not sit
silently if people of UP and Bihar are stopped from earning a
living anywhere in India."
Congress said it does not want to dignify the undignified
remarks by Sena against Sonia and Rahul with any response.
"We would not like to dignify these undignified remarks
with a response," Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan
said on Shiv Sena raking up the issue of Sonia's foreign
origin.
Bal Thackeray said Mumbai belongs to Maharashtra and
Marathi people. "If anyone is going to murder this truth, he
will have to face weapons of Maharashtra", he said.
Praful Patel, NCP leader and Congress ally, said the
Maharashtra government was responsible for protecting the
interests of all people living in Mumbai and there was no
question of "succumbing to these kind of pressures".
"Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the state
government to protect the interests of each and every person
who lives in Mumbai... there is no question of succumbing to
these kind of pressures," he said when asked about the threat
to migrants by Shiv Sena and MNS in Mumbai.
NCP and Congress are partners in the Democratic Front
government in Maharashtra.
Uddhav Thackeray said, "No one should think that Sena has
softened it stand on Mumbai. We would take to the streets to
save Mumbai and to keep Maharashtra united," Uddhav said.
Terming the debate on 'Mumbai-for- all' as a conspiracy
to separate the megapolis from Maharashtra, also said his
party would never let it happen.
"Why is there a sudden controversy over Mumbai when
nothing has happened here? It is a conspiracy to separate the
city from Maharashtra and we would never let it happen,"
Uddhav told reporters.
"One should retire from public life after a certain age," Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed added about the 84-year-old Thackeray.
Referring to Thackeray's age, he said some people lose the ability to distinguish between right and wrong as they grow in years.
"Some people, as they age, lose balance to know what should be said and done, and what not. They should retire from public life and stop commenting on public issues," Ahmed told news agencies in New Delhi.
-Agencies inputs
First Published: Thursday, February 04, 2010, 09:33