Vote banks of ‘outsiders’ being strengthened: Raj Thackeray

Mumbai, Aug 30 (PTI) At a time when MNS is trying tostay politically relevant in view of crucial BMC electionsnext year, party chief Raj Thackeray today raked up thecontroversial anti-migrant agenda, saying the vote banks of’outsiders’ are being strengthened to detriment of locals. "Vote banks of those from outside Maharashtra are beingallowed to grow in order to finish off the existence ofMarathi people," Raj said, addressing a meeting of districtlevel functionaries of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) atsuburban Matunga. MNS was pushed to margins in state politics after itsuffered major setbacks in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in2014. The outfit has been plagued by desertion by cadres andparty leaders amid perception that it has lost focus as wellas appeal among voters. "Our opponent is not from within the house but fromoutside," Raj said and asked party cadres to get ready for theBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, due early nextyear. The high-stake elections to BMC are crucial for MNSwhich mainly exploits the ‘sons-of-soil’ versus ‘outsiders’issue to attract Marathi votes. In June, the MNS chief had said Maharashtra was facingsimilar problems as the UK, which pulled out of the EuropeanUnion as ‘outsiders’ were taking away jobs leading tounemployment among locals. He had used the Brexit analogy to queer the pitch againstmigrants. ‘Marathi Manoos’ in the state was losing out to’outsiders’, Raj had then said. The problem was prevalent across the world but whenever Iraised the issue, I was labelled narrow-minded, he had said. "England pulled out from the European Union (EU) outof anger, as locals there were not getting jobs. They alsohave no work like Maharashtrian youth, as ‘outsiders’ hadgrabbed all the opportunities," he had said. MNS thrives on anti-migrant agenda and has on numerousoccasions targeted people from outside Maharashtra stayinghere and their businesses. Raj had even called for setting onfire autorickshaws, alleging most of the licences were givento non-Maharashtrians. PTI VT NSKKISSDM