Uddhav wants permit system for Biharis in Mumbai

Unfazed by strident criticism of his cousin MNS leader Raj Thackeray over his anti-Bihari remarks, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray today sought a permit system to check influx of Bihari migrants into Mumbai.

In a bid to compete with his cousin Raj Thackeray who has linked his anti-north Indian tirade to Azad Maidan violence of August 11, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said a permit system should be started for migrants from Bihar.

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"If Mumbai police need permission of Bihar Police to nab criminals who commit crime and take shelter in their state, there should be a permit system for Biharis coming to Mumbai," Uddhav was quoted in the party mouthpiece Saamna. The reference was to Bihar Police's objection to Mumbai police not informing them before arresting an Azad Maidan violence accused in Bihar.

Refusing to accept Nitish Kumar as NDA's prime ministerial candidate if he continued to support "traitors", Uddhav said, "The Bihar CM should have felt ashamed that the Amar Jawan memorial vandal turned out to be a Bihari, but instead, he created a ruckus".

In Bihar, leaders across parties slammed Uddhav.

"Whether it is Raj or Uddhav carrying out sustained hate campaign against Biharis, it is Bal Thackeray at the root of the regional and chauvinistic politics of the Sena," said Bihar PCC president Mehboob Ali Kaiser. The CM should seek ouster of Sena from the NDA, he added.

Bihar BJP president CP Thakur said, "The statement is in bad taste." In Maharashtra, state home minister RR Patil said an administrative correspondence was being politicised.

Uddhav is toeing Raj's line ever since the latter took out a huge rally in protest of the Azad Maidan violence, where he threatened to brand Biharis as infiltrators.

People burn an effigy of MNS chief Raj Thackeray in protest against his remarks on north-Indians in Faridabad. (AP Photo)

The Union home ministry, meanwhile, asked the Maharashtra government to reign in leaders like Raj and Uddhav. Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde neither denied nor confirmed the development.