Maharashtra to witness riots soon?

Mumbai, Nov 4: The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray threatened that the state would soon witness riots if politicians continued to drum up support to North Indians.

Raj Thackeray's response came following the statements of Congress leaders Sanjay Nirupam and Kripashankar Singh that Mumbai would reach a dead end if North Indians stopped working. Thackeray made the statements on the eve of the Chatt Puja celebrations in Mumbai.

"I am accused of spewing venom, but what about these two leaders? I want to draw the attention of the chief minister (Prithviraj Chavan), the deputy chief minister (Ajit Pawar) and the home minister (R.R. Patil) to the statements and want them to intervene. If things are not controlled, there could be riots in the state," said Thackeray.

"If my Marathi manoos gets angry and comes on the roads there will be riots. Tomorrow if these people (North Indians) get beaten up, then don't point fingers at me," he said.

The MNS Chief, further blaming the two Congress leaders, said that they were trying to spoil the peaceful atmosphere in the state with such comments.

"Forget stepping out of their house, they won't be able to come out of their bedrooms. I don't give empty threats," Raj warned about Mumbai coming to a standstill if North Indians stopped working.

"I know that my statements are going to be twisted and taken out of context by the Hindi news channels to increase their TRPs. If that is done, not one Hindi news camera will be visible in Maharashtra," he further added.

OneIndia News