Mumbai: Hours after Shiv Sena took potshots at the local Gujarati businessmen through an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana, it retracted from its stand saying the community always stood behind the late Balasaheb as mark of solidarity with Hindus and development.
The Sena editorial on Thursday, which is seen as the viewpoint of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, had asked if Gujaratis were ready to rally behind them during the Assembly elections, the way they have united in support of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
The editorial alleged that the Gujarati community and other non-Marathi traders had extracted a lot from Mumbai, used it like a “sex worker†to build their own cities of gold (Dwarkas).
“Will the Gujarati community stand behind us to realise the dream of hoisting the saffron flag atop Maharashtra’s Mantralaya? On this Maharashtra Day [state’s foundation day on May 1], the 11 crore citizens of Maharashtra need to pledge to ensure that the dream of the 105 martyrs does not go unrealised,†the editorial said.