‘PM can’t be in same row as Shivaji, Ambedkar, Phule’: Raj Thackeray

MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday said a photograph of the Prime Minister cannot be placed alongside those of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Dr B R Ambedkar and Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, asserting that the three occupy a unique place in Maharashtra’s history.

“You cannot place anybody’s photo in the same row as that of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar,” Thackeray said while addressing a gathering in Thane. He said the Prime Minister’s photograph could be displayed in government offices and other official institutions, but “certainly not in the same row or next to” the three icons.

His remarks came days after his son Amit Thackeray and MNS workers removed a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi placed next to Shivaji Maharaj’s portrait at a polytechnic institute in Pune. The incident triggered criticism from the ruling BJP, while Pune police registered an FIR against Amit and others.

The institute later restored the photograph. Raj Thackeray also alleged that there was an attempt to trigger communal unrest in Mumbai, Maharashtra and across the country ahead of the Ganesh festival, which begins on September 14.

“My biggest fear is there is an attempt to create communal unrest and riots not only in Maharashtra but across the country,” he said, urging Hindus and Muslims not to fall prey to such a “design”.