Shiv Sena men would have made 'tandoori' of Azmi: Bal Thackeray

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has held Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi "responsible" for Monday's mayhem in the Maharashtra assembly and said his party men would have made a "tandoori" or roast of somebody like Azmi for having hurt Marathi pride.

In an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamna, Thackeray said that though elected from Maharashtra, Azmi took the oath as legislator in Hindi and not Marathi, and therefore he was beaten by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) lawmakers.

Stressing that the Sena was born on the issue of Marathi pride, Thackeray said in the past the Shiv Sena has carried out many such campaigns against the use of Hindi and English in the state legislature, especially by its senior member Diwakar Raote.

"If somebody like Azmi had come in Raote's hands, he would have made a 'tandoori' out of him, and removed his skin," the editorial declared.

"That (Marathi pride) has been the Shiv Sena's philosophy always and would also remain in the future," he noted.

However, Thackeray lashed out at the MNS for the violent behaviour of its legislators inside the assembly.

He said that nobody can support the violence and pandemonium created by the MNS members in the assembly Monday.

"The proceedings of the assembly or parliament must be carried out as per rules and decorum, it cannot be reduced to an 'akhada' (wrestling pit) or a vegetable market."

Azmi was slapped and pushed by MNS legislators inside the assembly Monday for flouting the party diktat of taking the oath as legislator only in Marathi.

Reacting to Thackeray's views, Samajwadi Party state president Abu Asim Azmi said that Bal Thackeray was "approaching the last stages of his life and has lost his mental balance".

"In fact, despite all his efforts the Shiv Sena could not come to power again and he is feeling very upset, so he talks anything," Azmi said here Tuesday.

The Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine lost the Maharashtra assembly elections held Oct 13.