Raj Thackeray praises Narendra Modi's Gujarat

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray, who is on a tour of Gujarat to learn about its development, harped on his favourite issue, migrant labour. Talking to the press on Thursday night, he said that developed states should not suffer because of lack of development in other states. He said that locals should get preference over migrants in employment. “In Maharashtra, 100 per cent employment should be given to Maharashtrians and in Gujarat, 100 per cent employment should be given to Gujaratis,’’ Thackeray said. In fact, Gujarat welcomes migrant labour as it is costlier to hire locals. For instance, textile processing units in Surat run completely on migrant labour.During his visit to Saurashtra, he went to automobile industrial units in Rajkot and the Somnath temple. He said that his visit was purely to see the development in the state. “Tata chief Ratan Tata praised Narendra Modi, so I thought of visiting Gujarat,’’ he said, adding that he was pained when Tata preferred Gujarat over Maharashtra when he shifted his Nano plant from Singur. “But Gujarat government gives fast clearance to industries,’’ he added. He said that Maharashtra was an industrialized state but corruption had brought it to a standstill.

Raj Thackeray’s open praise of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi during his prolonged visit of Gujarat has given rise to speculation about the estranged Thackeray nephew’s possible tie-up with the BJP. Raj Thackeray is on a nineday visit to Gujarat. MNS spokesperson Shirish Parkar said the visit is mainly for academic reasons and not for any political purpose. During his stay in Gujarat, Raj has already visited Tata’s Nano plant, the General Motors plant, the government’s water purification centers, various government offices and places like the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. On the third day of his visit, Raj Thackeray spoke to some media persons and praised Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. Raj claimed Modi had implemented people-centric policies with the result that Gujarat was ahead of Maharashtra in industrial growth despite facing more natural calamities and other problems. Raj targeted the Maharashtra government for not doing enough to attract investments. BJP MP Gopinath Munde had appealed from a public platform that Raj Thackeray be part of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance to beat the Congress and the NCP in Maharashtra. A close aide of Munde said the party is happy that Raj praised Modi but in the longrun this could only help him gain ground among the Gujarati voters in Mumbai. This may damage the BJP in the city as Gujarati voters form a big chunk of their traditional support base. Raj’s statements have caused displeasure in the Shiv Sena camp. Sena spokesperson refused any comment on Raj’s Gujarat visit but party officials said, through the much-publicised visit, Raj had launched an image-building exercise on the verge of Mumbai municipal elections. MNS spokesperson Shirish Parkar claimed Raj had visited most places in Gujarat only to help his team form a blueprint for Maharashtra’s development. Raj has been talking in public rallies about this ‘blueprint’ of state’s development since he first formed MNS.