Mumbai, March 6: Having launched salvos against Sachin Tendulkar and Mukesh Ambani, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has now targeted Maharashtra governor K. Sankarnarayanan for his suggestion that Mumbai’s population growth cannot be
curbed. In his editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamna on Saturday, Mr Thackeray has termed governors as “rubber-stamp white elephants” who have to be borne at tax-payer’s expense and that they should “not be sticking their noses everywhere”.
The Sena chief said that Mr Sankaranarayanan would not have made a similar statement in Bengaluru or Chennai had he been the governor of Karnataka or Tamil Nadu respectively. “Mr Sankarnarayanan suo motu declared that the influx of population will continue and Mumbai cannot be compared with any other city in the world,” Mr Thackeray wrote, adding, “Even though the post of governor is only for show, it is also a constitutional authority. These rubber-stamp white elephants have to be borne for years at the taxpayers’ expense. They should not be sticking their noses everywhere.”
Mr Thackeray wrote that the governor’s statement that migrants would continue to come to Mumbai is akin to a betrayal of
Maharashtra. In Mr Thackeray’s opinion, Mumbai’s current situation has become like that of a ravaged prostitute because of the influx of migrants.
Taking potshots at the governor, he wrote, “The lavish Raj Bhavan home for Maharashtra’s governor stands on acres of land near the Arabian Sea. Raj Bhavan has no link to Maharashtra. Some retired Congressman comes here as a pensioner and enjoys the sea breeze. It is only our good fortune that we have not got anyone like (former Andhra Pradesh governor) N.D. Tiwari.”
In his interaction with media personnel on Friday, Mr Sankaranarayanan said, “Anybody can live in Mumbai. Only Mumbai can compete with itself. The rich, middle class and the poor co-exist here.” Mr Thackeray added, “Had Mr Sankaranarayanan been the governor of Karnataka, would he have dared to say let hordes of migrants come to Bengaluru?”
Prasad Patil
