Thaindian News

Mumbai, Nov 14 (IANS) The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Monday gave a sharp rejoinder to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statements in Uttar Pradesh, terming him “ill-informed”.

“For how long would UP youths go and beg in Maharashtra,” Gandhi had asked while addressing a rally in Phulpur in the state Monday afternoon.

Retorting, MNS chief Raj Thackeray demanded to know how the situation had come to such a pass, especially since the Congress had been ruling Uttar Pradesh for several decades.

“What did the Congress do for the UP youth when it was in power for so many years? It is the Congress which is responsible for such a state of affairs,” Thackeray told mediapersons in the evening.

He alleged that Gandhi was ill-informed about the past and hence was making such statements for political gains.

Thackeray said that “the people of UP must ask Rahul what the Congress had done for the state in the past so many years”.

“After all, every member of the Gandhi family, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and even Rahul himself have been elected from UP,” he pointed out.

Thackeray also justified this afternoon’s attack on the offices of the Central Board of Film Censors in south Mumbai by some MNS activists.

“We had written to the CBFC chairperson Leela Samson over five months ago requesting that prominent people from Marathi theatre and film should also be included on the board. Presently, all the members are non-Maharashtrians, how can they censor Marathi movies,” Thackeray demanded.

He wondered what would happen if a French person was imposed on Hindi film censorship or a Maharashtrian on the Bengali film industry.