Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday said he was not into politics for personal gains, but to fight for issues. "I am not bothered about any gains or losses that I might incur with my involvement in politics. I have taken up certain issues, and I will stick to them," Thackeray told newspersons during an informal chat in Nagpur.
Hitting out at Rane, he said, "Rane was greedy for power and he knows very well the reasons why I threw him out of the Sena. It is because of the Sena that he has earned a fortune and now he is out to destroy the same party."
The media breathed life into the MNS which did not take off at a trajectory which would make it an electoral challenge to any political party... It gave him the cause. Strange, but true. And also tragic.
Bowing down to pressure, Jaya Bachchan on Tuesday apologised for her remark about speaking in Hindi, which had invited the wrath of both the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. "I am very sorry if I have hurt the sentiments of Marathi speaking people in Mumbai and Maharashtra," Jaya said in an interview to Mumbai Mirror.
Ace batsman Sachin Tendulkar was seen in a new role when he recited his late father and renowned Marathi poet Ramesh Tendulkar's poem at a function in Mumbai.
Shops and all commercial establishments were closed down in Dadar after the clashes escalated and traffic was being diverted in the area, they said.
"This is a free country and every individual enjoys the liberty of free speech. The law of the land and its Constitution are supreme. Every Indian should be governed by that," the actor said, responding to a query on the impact of the MNS chief's charges against him and his family.
Prakash Mahajan, younger brother of late Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan, was on Thursday appointed chief organiser of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
Rabri Devi dared the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena from stopping her and her husband, Lalu Prasad, from holding the Chhat Puja in Mumbai. She also said that MNS chief Raj Thackeray had hurt Biharis with his anti-Chhat comments.
"Those who seek to divide on the basis of religion, on the basis of caste or on the basis of the place one belongs to, I think they do not serve the cause of national unity or national progress," he said without naming anybody or a political party.
"Since Raj is fighting for the Marathi Manoos, we are ready to face any consequence..... but there is tension in the house," Raj's mother-in-law Padma Wagh told PTI. She voiced concern about Raj's son Amit, who is going to appear for his tenth standard examination next month. "I am worried about Amit because of Raj's likely arrest, as he has to appear for SSC exams next month," she said.
