No takers for Sena stand even in Maharashtra, says Karunanidhi

Joining issue with Shiv Sena, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday made light of its “Mumbai for Marathis” stand, saying it has no takers even in Maharashtra and dismissed suggestions that people of the South were “anti-Hindi.”

“Even in Maharashtra there is no support for his (Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray’s) views,” the DMK patriarch told reporters here in his first remarks on the Shiv Sena campaign, which has triggered a national outcry.

Uddhav Thackeray had on Sunday defended the Sena stand and attacked other parties and RSS, which had countered it by saying that Mumbai was for all Indians.

The RSS had asked its activists to protect North Indians in Maharashtra, inviting an angry retort from Mr. Thackeray, who asked it to look to the South and teach Hindi in the region.

Rejecting the impression that people in the South were “anti-Hindi”, Mr. Karunanidhi said political parties did not have any “narrow view” to drive out people speaking other than the respective regional languages.

“There is no political party in the region which has a narrow view to drive out people speaking other than the respective regional languages,” he said.