Raj Thackeray trolls Maharashtra guv, says “do not fool a Marathi manus”

|HT|

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Saturday hit out at Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's speech where he said if Gujaratis and Rajasthanis are removed from Maharashtra, then the state will have no money left and Mumbai will no longer be called the financial capital of India.

Sharing a text in Marathi with the caption “do not fool a Marathi manus”, Raj Thackeray said, “If you don't know anything about Maharashtra's history, then don't talk about it.”

“The post of the governor is a very respected designation so people will not say anything against this, but your statement has hurt the people of Maharashtra,” the MNS supremo added.

He further questioned governor Koshyari as he said, "Because of the Marathi people in the state, good job opportunities were created. So people from other states migrated here, right? Will they get such an environment anywhere else?”

“With the elections around the corner, one should not spread any rumours. Do not assume that we are innocent to believe this. Do not fool 'Marathi manus' - this is all I have to say right now,” Raj Thackeray wrote.

The governor made the comments on Friday in Mumbai's Andheri where a chowk was named after the late Shantidevi Champalalji Kothari. In a video shared by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut from the event, BS Koshyari said, “I keep telling people sometimes that If Gujaratis and Rajasthanis are removed from Maharashtra -- especially from Mumbai and Thane, then you will have no money left."

The governor also praised the Marwari Gujarati community and said wherever they go, they contribute to the development of the place by creating hospitals, schools, and other institutions.

Several leaders including Sanjay Raut, Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, and Congress leader Sachin Sawant have condemned the governor's statement. While Raut urged Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde to condemn the statements made by the governor, Congress' Sachin Sawant said that the insult of the Marathi people by the governor of Maharashtra is terrible.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)