Raj the Rebellion

Raj Thackeray and his men are at it again. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief has warned the newly elected legislators in the state assembly of "dire consequences" if they refuse to take oath in Marathi."The house will come to know what my MLAs can do if anyone dares to take the oath in any other language," Thackeray said. State Samajwadi Party chief and legislator from Govandi and Bhiwandi Abu Asim Azmi is keen on taking the oath in Hindi. But he clarified that he respects Marathi and Maharashtra. "I have been living here for 40 years," he said. "Now that I have been elected MLA, I will start learning Marathi."

Thackeray said it was time for Maharashtrians to take lessons from Karnataka. "In Karnataka, a Marathi-speaking minister was expelled from the cabinet as he could not speak in Kannada," he said. "Will our legislators show the same attitude about Marathi?"

He criticised chief minister Ashok Chavan for performing a puja of Sathya Sai Baba at his official residence, Varsha. "The CM should have performed the puja at his residence," he said. "If such things continue, Varsha will turn into Aastha channel," he quipped.

He expressed disappointment at the delay in the formation of a new government in the state. "There is no need to apply president's rule," he said. The 13 MNS MLAs have elected Bala Nandgaonkar as their leader and Vasant Gite as deputy leader in the state assembly. Nitin Sardesai will be the party's whip.