Maharashtra’s image sullied like ‘Dabangg’s Munni’: Thackeray

MUMBAI - The Maharashtra government has acquired a reputation as bad as ‘Munni’ from the recent Bollywood mega-hit “Dabang”, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said Friday.

In a hard-hitting editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamna’, Thackeray listed the failures and scams afflicting the state government, and added that with Tuesday’s burning of Nashik additional district collector Yeshwant Sonawane by the petrol mafia, the state government’s reputation has gone for a toss and sullied like that of ‘Munni’.

The state leaders keep invoking the names of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar, but the mafia which indulges in adulteration rackets in petrol, edible oil, milk, sand, mava and ghee continues to enjoy life as usual, he said.

“After the Sonawane burning incident, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan vowed that nobody would be spared and promised to take stringent action against the perpetrators…He has been saying that since the Adarsh Society scam… But the ‘mafiagiri’ continues unabated,” Thackeray said.

Alleging that the state is under ‘mafia raj’ (mafia rule), Thackeray said the mafia’s disciples are in Chavan’s cabinet.

However, when the ruling party members are busy “dancing on each others chest”, it is difficult to see how they will grapple with the mafia around the state, Thackeray said.