Annamalai Sparks Controversy over Mumbai’s True Status, Fadnavis Comes to his Aid
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 12: The Tamil Nadu BJP voce-president K Annamalai has come at the centre of controversy in the elections for the country’s rickets civic body the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) where his rhetoric has turned the civic elections campaign into a contest over who is a true Mumbaikar and who is an “outsider” for the country’s financial capital.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said on Monday that Annamalai’s statements show his party “only wants to insult and loot” Mumbai and Maharashtra. “Annamalai is the face of the BJP, which is ‘zero.’ He could not win there (in Tamil Nadu) and save his own deposit,” Aaditya Thackeray commented.
The young ex-minister, whose father Uddhav and uncle Raj Thackeray have come together after two decades to fight the marquee Mumbai election together, praised Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin of the DMK. “CM Stalin has been bringing forward Tamil Nadu at such a speed, while these people are only fighting, hurling abuses.”
Speaking at an elections rally in Dharavi, Annamalai had called Mumbai “an international city” and not a city of Maharashtra alone. Mumbai, he had said, was not just the capital of Maharashtra but the financial capital of the nation and an international city that needs to be administered by the right people.
This forced even the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who had termed Mumbai the heart of Maharashtra, to agree with his party colleague that Mumbai truly was an international city. In an efforts to placate his irate party colleague from Tamil Nadu he also told him, “”Do not take Raj Thackeray seriously”.
Defending his statement in the wake of the attack from the opposition, Annamalai on Monday said, “If I say Kamaraj (freedom fighter and ex-CM) is one of India’s greatest leaders, does that mean he is no longer a Tamil? If I say Mumbai is a world-class city, does that mean Maharashtrians didn’t build it?” Annamalai, a former IPS officer, asked rhetorically, rejecting accusations that his remarks undermined Marathi pride.
The strongest of reaction to Annamalai came unsurprisingly from Raj Thackeray of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). He harked back to a controversial slogan from the 1960s and ’70s of the Shiv Sena founded by Raj Thackeray’s uncle and Uddhav’s father, the late Bal Thackeray.
“Hatao lungi bajao pungi,” Raj Thackeray said, referencing the clothing of Tamil people and asking locals to oust them. He also twisted Annamalai’s name to a famous sweet, “One rasmalai came from Tamil Nadu. What is your connection to here?”
A former IPS officer, Annamalai hit back: “Who are Aditya Thackeray and Raj Thackeray to threaten me? I am proud to be a farmer’s son. They have organised meetings just to abuse me. I don’t know whether I have become that important.”
The Tamil-speaking population in Mumbai is largely spread across half a dozen corporation seats, and is estimated to be around 4% of the total voters, India Today has reported, though official data is scarce. A huge chunk of this Tamil population in Mumbai stays in slums, especially in Dharavi. The BJP may not have a seat in Tamil Nadu but it has a Tamil-origin MLA in Maharashtra, R Tamil Selvan, from the Sion-Koliwada constituency of Mumbai.
Elections to the 29 municipal corporations across the state, including the Pune Municipal Corporation, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, will be held on January 15. The counting of votes will take place on January 16.
Accusing the BJP of giving communal colour to every election, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray challenged the ruling party to show one election in which they did not raise the Hindu-Muslim issue. “I challenge the BJP to show one election in which they did not raise the Hindu-Muslim issue. This is a municipal election on civic issues. Why bring up religion and language differences?” he asked.
Thackeray has joined hands with the estranged cousin, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, for the BMC election. Asked if this alliance will dent his image of a leader who softened Shiv Sena’s hardline perception, Thackeray said, “No, because people know me… I am speaking to you in Hindi; we have never opposed any language. We all live together. Whenever an adversity strikes, our Shivsainiks do not ask anyone about their caste or religion.”
Targeting the Maharashtra chief minister, Thackeray said, “Devendra Fadnavis distinguishes between Hindu and Marathi. When I say a Marathi will become the Mayor, he says a Hindu will take the post. Our fight is against this mindset,” he said. Asked if his alliance with Raj Thackeray will last, he replied, “When we were not together, you had questions. Now we are together, why are you worrying about the future?”
Thackeray was also asked why the Sena (UBT) is not contesting the BMC polls in alliance with its Maha Vikas Aghadi partners, Congress and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). “Maha Vikas Aghadi was not formed (for this election), but still, we are not criticising each other. Mahayuti (NDA alliance) is there, but still they are criticising each other,” he said.
