Sena (UBT) slams BJP's Annamalai for saying Mumbai is not Maharashtra city

Annamalai

• Sanjay Raut urges arrest of BJP's Annamalai for 'Bombay not Maharashtra city' comment
• BJP and Shinde-led Sena affirm Mumbai is Maharashtra's and India's financial hub.
• Annamalai's campaign statement sparks controversy before Mumbai civic polls.

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Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday demanded that BJP leader K Annamalai be arrested for his remark while campaigning for the civic elections that "Bombay is not a Maharashtra city".

State BJP minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said a statement could be misunderstood, and it should be found out what exactly he meant.

"(Narendra) Modi ji at the Centre, Devendra (Fadnavis) ji at the state, and a BJP mayor in the BMC...because Bombay is not a Maharashtra city. It is an international city," Annamalai said on Friday ahead of the January 15 elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Latching on to the remark, Raut pointed out that Annamalai was the BJP's star campaigner, and sought to know if this was the saffron party's official stand.

"You should file a case against him here. How can he talk like this about Maharashtra's capital? The CM should file a case against him and arrest him. He should not be allowed to leave Mumbai," the Sena (UBT) leader said.

Raut also demanded that chief minister Fadnavis make his stand clear on this, and targeted the Shiv Sena led by deputy CM Eknath Shinde, a BJP ally.

"Where is your self-respect? How helpless are you," Raut asked the Shinde-led Sena.

Asked about the controversy, BJP leader Bawankule said, "People tend to distort or misunderstand comments made in a speech. (We) Need to find out what exactly he meant." The Shinde-led Shiv Sena distanced itself from the remarks.

Party leader Deepak Kesarkar said Mumbai belongs to Maharashtra and it is India's financial capital.

"It belongs to Marathi people and its character should stay that way. This is our clear stand," he said, adding that such statements should not be made.

"Mumbai is an inseparable part of Maharashtra, and the reality is it will always be part of Maharashtra. There is no statement (by Annamalai) that Mumbai will be snatched away from Maharashtra," Kesarkar added.