The fresh outburst by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray against north Indian migrants has brought back a political headache the state Government thought it had got rid of.

A day after Raj launched a new broadside against migrants, the Congress-NCP alliance was in a dilemma over whether it should prosecute him or ignore it as rhetoric, as it did for a while three months ago until the pressure got too much.

Although there has been no violence in Mumbai or Maharashtra after Raj’s fresh verbal assault during the second anniversary celebrations of his party, most politicians from across the spectrum on Sunday demanded that the Vilasrao Deshmukh Government act against him.

Addressing tens of thousands of supporters in Mumbai on Saturday, Raj said that he would not hesitate to drive migrants from north India out of Mumbai if the need arose, blamed migrants from Uttar Pradesh for soaring crimes and urged locals to take on migrants if necessary.

Considering he had been arrested briefly, gagged and allowed to hold his rally after being warned that he should not provoke people, Raj was “challenging the whole system”, said Congress spokesman Sanjay Nirupam, and sought action.

Responding to questions on the matter in Bangalore, BJP president Rajnath Singh criticised Raj, saying “people who indulge in politics of casteism and regionalism should have no place in the country’s polity”.

Shyamsunder Arya, chief general secretary of the Samajwadi Party in Mumbai, ridiculed Raj as “a non-serious politician” and alleged that the state Government was letting him off.

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