Raj, Uddhav to walk together for mill workers

The estranged Thackeray cousins -- Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray -- are going to walk together in a march for the cause of out-of-job textile mill workers in Mumbai.

Several associations of textile industry workers, thousands of whom became jobless after prolonged strikes in early 1990s and afterwards, have organised a protest march on July 28 to press for their demands of rehabilitation.

"From the very beginning, Shiv Sena has been fighting for the cause of mill-workers, and this time too I will participate in the morcha," Uddhav told reporters after visiting buildings constructed for mill-workers at Byculla.

The march would start from Veermata Jeejabai garden and conclude at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.

Raj Thackeray, who quit Sena some years ago to found his own party, had said last week that he would participate in the march.

Asked if the leaders of Sena's ally parties (Bharatiya Janata Party and Republican Party of India) would also participate, Uddhav said he did not know.

The Sena executive president expressed satisfaction about the buildings constructed for the former mill-workers, but said that more land should be allotted for their housing, and houses should be given free, as jobless workers could not afford to pay up even Rs 10-12 lakh.

"The government has been forming various policies (on housing) ... a similar policy should be formulated for the mill workers," he added.