Nitish calls Raj ‘sirfira’, says he must be dealt with sternly

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday launched a scathing attack on MNS chief Raj Thackeray for describing people from Bihar as infiltrators. Nitish said that Raj Thackeray was no more than a "sirfira" (insane) and must be dealt with sternly. Nitish even wondered if the Maharashtra government had outsourced governance to people like Raj who can only thrive on hate politics.

"No one can challenge Bihari asmita. Raj Thackeray is too small a person to dare to do so. The country belongs to people from all the states and the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar should keep people like Raj at safe distance...There is an elected government in Maharashtra. Who has appointed Raj Thackeray to speak on behalf of the state government and the police? I wonder that if a government cannot deal with riffraffs like Raj, how can it deal with other serious issues like terrorism?" Nitish said, asking the Centre to ensure the safety of people from other states living in Maharashtra.

Nitish said he would write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once the latter was through with bigger issues confronting the UPA government.

He also made it clear that he was not in the race for the PM's post, and asked JD(U) minister Bhim Singh to retract from his statement that the NDA should declare Nitish as its PM candidate. "My party colleagues must refrain from making such statement as this will create false impression of my partymen lobbying for me," said Nitish.

TV News channels distorted my statement: Raj Thackeray

MUMBAI, delhi: Alleging that Hindi news channels were "distorting" his statements, Raj Thackeray said on Sunday they should not air news without understanding the issues. Speaking at a party meeting here, he said: "I want to tell the Hindi news channels to first understand the issue before it is broadcast... otherwise we know how to stop it." In New Delhi, the Broadcast Editors' Association in a release asked the Maharashtra government to ensure protection to media personnel in Mumbai against "lumpen elements". "We take serious note of threats given by the MNS chief against Hindi news channels and feel that this is not a threat held out against media but an assault on the roots of democracy," it said in a release. PTI

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