Mumbai, July 30: Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday hit out at Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari over "Gujaratis and Rajasthanis" remarks and said that he insulted the Marathi people with his statement.
"For the last two and a half years, Bhagat Singh Koshyari has been enjoying Maharashtra's hospitality and today he is disrespecting them only...Mumbai and Marathi people have contributed a lot for the state," the Sena chief said.
Addressing a press conference at his residence 'Matoshree' here, Thackeray said, "The hatred that the governor harbours in his mind against Marathi people has inadvertently come out."
He demanded that the governor tender an apology to Marathi people.
"Time has come to decide whether to send Koshyari back home or to jail...In the last three years, he has insulted Marathi-speaking people despite staying in Maharashtra. Now with these comments, he has brought disrespect to the governor's post," Thackeray alleged.
The former Maharashtra chief minister said when he was fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and people were dying, the governor wanted the places or religious worship be reopened. ''Koshyari did not approve the 12 names from the governor's quota for the Maharashtra Legislative Council. He also made derogatory remarks against social reformer Savitribai Phule,'' Thackeray alleged.
Koshyari has kicked up a row, saying that there will be no money left in Mumbai and it will cease to be the financial capital of the country if Gujaratis and Rajasthanis are removed from the city.
'Maharashtra will have no money left if...': Governor Koshyari's speech sparks row
Speaking at an event in Mumbai, Koshyari said, "I tell people here that if Gujaratis and Rajasthanis are removed from Maharashtra, especially Mumbai and Thane, you will have no money and Mumbai will not be a financial capital."
He made the statement after the naming ceremony of a chowk in Andheri, a western suburb of Mumbai.
A release issued by the Raj Bhavan said Koshyari praised the contribution of Rajasthani-Marwari and Gujarati communities in making Mumbai the financial capital of the country.
The governor said the Rajasthani-Marwari community is living in different parts of the country and also in countries like Nepal and Mauritius.
"Wherever members of this community go, they not only do business but also do acts of philanthropy by creating schools, hospitals," he said.