|
Mumbai Congress MP Nirupam stirs hornet's nest
Monday October 24, 2011 09:18:30 PM,
IANS
|
|
Nagpur/Mumbai: Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam stirred a hornet's nest Monday by
publicly stating that north Indians, if required, could bring
Mumbai to a grinding halt.
"We are not a burden on Mumbai," the MP from Mumbai said at a huge
rally in Maharashtra's winter capital Nagpur. "If north Indians
take a single day off, Mumbai will practically paralysed."
Bal Thackeray's Shiv Sena and nephew Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena -- each with a strong anti-north Indian posture --
reacted predictably and dared former Shiv Sena member Nirupam to
carry out the threat.
However, the surprise came from the instant reaction of Congress
colleague, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who
attempted to nip any controversy that might affect the party's
prospects in the vital civic elections in February 2012.
"We will not allow anyone to shut down Mumbai," Chavan said.
"Mumbai's normal life must always be allowed to function smoothly.
We shall all continue to work together for Mumbai's development."
Earlier, Nirupam had said: "We carry Mumbai's burden on our backs.
Our roots are deeply entrenched in Mumbai and those trying to weed
us out would themselves be rooted out." Nirupam was alluding to
the MNS's shrill anti-north Indian diatribe in recent times.
North Indians are engaged in several critical service oriented
trades and businesses in the city, ranging from milkmen, vegetable
vendors, taxi drivers, snack vendors and pan shop owners and their
numbers are strong enough to matter in electoral calculations.
Reacting sharply, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray
challenged Nirupam to carry out the threat and demanded to know
the Congress leadership's views on the issue.
An angry Thackeray openly dared Nirupam -- once his close
confidante who had drummed up the support of north-Indians for the
Shiv Sena -- to carry out his threat of imposing a Mumbai bandh.
"I dare Nirupam to shut down Mumbai and the Marathi people here
will smash his teeth," Uddhav threatened, warning of Sena-style
reaction.
Though MNS chief Raj Thackeray kept mum, his close associate and
legislator Bala Nandgaonkar said: "Nirupam is making these
statements only to gain cheap publicity. But now he seems isolated
in his own party."
Incidentally, Nirupam had gained in a big way in the 2009 Lok
Sabha elections due to the MNS' shrill campaign against north
Indian migrants, and bagged the Mumbai North seat, earlier held by
Bollywood actor Govinda.
|
|
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
 AMU
Maharashtra: Expert team to inspect lands for sub centre October 26
A high level team led by Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Vice
Chancellor Prof PK Abdul Aziz is visiting Maharashtra on October
26 to inspect
»
Aligarians in Maharashtra throw weight behind AMU Malegaon
We see
our future in AMU Malegaon: Write hundreds of students to VC
|
|
|
|
Most Read |
|
 Powerful
quake jolts Turkey, hundreds feared killed
About 1,000 people may have died in the
7.3-magnitude quake which hit Turkey's southeastern province of
Van Sunday, an official said. The magnitude
»
138 bodies found after Turkey quake
|
|
India must move towards MMP electoral system: Experts at Int’l
workshop in Berlin
Realizing the urgent need for electoral reforms in India towards a
proportionate electoral system, the Campaign for Electoral Reforms
in India, (CERI), and the Platform-Dalit Solidarity in Germany
together organized an International Workshop of experts on
electoral systems from Germany, Norway
»
|
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
 Help pours in for AIIMS patient Shehnaz
A day after
IANS reported on 17-year-old Shehnaz, who spent over a month
outside the All India
»
Outside AIIMS canteen, Shehnaz lies waiting
for death
|
|
The more the merrier, says Mizo man with 39
wives, 94 kids
Many would consider it an achievement of Biblical proportions!
With 39 wives and more than 120 children and grandchildren, all
staying together, a tribal Christian cult leader in the northeastern state of Mizoram
could »
|
|
Varsity row over 'singling out' northeastern students resolved
A row over an alleged attempt by the University of
Hyderabad to single out students from the northeast in its drive
against drinking and drug use on campus was resolved with the
students expressing satisfaction »
|
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
Girl students of a local school
displaying the post cards posted to the AMU VC appealing him
to speed up the process for the establishment of AMU centre in
Malegaon
(Photo:
ummid.com) |
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links