‘Jai Maharashtra’ row: Sena says can give fitting reply

Days after a Karnataka minister sparked a row with his statement against chanting of the “Jai Maharashtra” slogan in the southern state, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday said it is capable of giving a “befitting reply” to “such people”.

“Shiv Sena is capable of giving a fitting reply to such people but at the same time other political parties are sitting quietly wearing bangles,” Sena MP Sanjay Raut said at a mass marriage function organised under the “Bal Thackeray Kanyadan Yojana” at Boisar in Palghar district.

Senior Karnataka minister R Roshan Baig reportedly said on Friday that elected representatives found chanting the “Jai Maharashtra” slogan stand to lose their elected post in the southern state.

Speaking about Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ reference to blockbuster film ‘Bahubali-2’ in the state legislature on Monday, Raut said the CM should go to Belgaum and “show the trailer of the film to Marathi people there”.

Maharashtra has been demanding inclusion of Belgaum and other Marathispeaking areas, currently part of Karnataka, in the state. “Maharashtra belongs to every citizen in the country. Even though the Belgaum issue is sub judice, Roshan Beig had threatened a corporator (of Belgaum municipal corporation) that his membership would be revoked for saying ‘Jai Maharashtra’,” Raut said. PTI