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A Correspondent in Bombay
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray is at loggerheads with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee yet again.
In a front-page interview in party newspaper Saamna on Tuesday, Thackeray blasted Vajpayee for suggesting that Bombay's door should be open to all citizens of the country, irrespective of the state they hail from.
Vajpayee made the statement when he visited the Maharashtra capital on Sunday to participate in Jain Teerthankar Mahavir's birth anniversary celebrations.
In a throwback to the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Thackeray had led a violent campaign against non-Maharashtrians in Bombay, the Sena chief said there was a conspiracy to sever the city's links with the rest of the state. "But I must warn everyone, we Maharashtrians don't grow up on dead mother's milk, we will fight for our rights," he said.
Blaming non-Maharashtrians for all that ails Bombay today, Thackeray said people from the home states of Vajpayee [Uttar Pradesh] and Laloo Prasad Yadav [Bihar] had turned the state capital into a dustbin. "While these people encroach upon government land and steal electricity and water, the tax-paying public faces water scarcity and all sorts of other problems. Bombay's footpaths have disappeared and the entire city stinks like a toilet," he said.
This is the second time sparks have flown between Vajpayee and Thackeray in less than a fortnight. A few days back, Thackeray had demanded the resignation of two key officials in the prime minister's office in the wake of the Tehelka disclosures on corruption in defence deals.
While these periodic skirmishes are not likely to have any political fallout immediately, they are indicative of the growing tension between the two National Democratic Alliance partners.
The Shiv Sena has 15 members in the Lok Sabha and is a key member of the ruling coalition headed by Vajpayee at the Centre.
The Sena recently refused to participate in an NDA rally against the Tehelka expose in Bombay, leading to its cancellation.
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