NASHIK: MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday night dared Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to visit Mumbai on Sunday to celebrate the Bihar Diwas and dared the state government to arrest him as he would not allow the programme to be held. He asked deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and home minister R R Patil to tell Nitish Kumar to refrain from visiting Mumbai.

Addressing an election rally for the Malegaon Municipal Corporation scheduled on April 15, Thackeray said the government can arrest him if it wanted, but he would not sit quiet and allow Maharashtra to be plundered by migrants and politicians from other states. “What will I do?” he asked, and replied: “Wait till April 15.” Thackeray said the influx of migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were burdening amenities in Maharashtra’s cities like Mumbai, Nashik, Pune and Nagpur.

Referring to the Bihar Diwas rally planned in Mumbai, he said the anniversary of Bihar’s formation was on March 22, yet it was being celebrated later on. He said if the celebration of Bihar Diwas was permitted in Mumbai, it would set a trend and other states would follow. “Why in Maharashtra? Why not in Gujarat or Punjab?”

He said the modus operandi of leaders like Nitish Kumar was to enter Maharashtra on the pretext of cultural programmes to get a political foothold and then dominate the natives. He blamed the ruling politicians as well as the opposition parties for the state of affairs, claiming they were just busy minting money.