Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Tuesday flayed Home Minister P Chidambaram for withdrawing his remarks on migrants' role in crimes in Delhi after having "spoken the truth".
"Chidambaram spoke the truth. Now he and his government should implement the permit system (to curb migrants), at least for Delhi and Mumbai," Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana.
The home minister had come under fire when he on Monday remarked, "......nevertheless crime takes place because Delhi attracts a large number of migrants. There are a large number of unauthorised colonies. These migrants carry a kind of behaviour which is unacceptable in any modern city. So crimes do take place."
After he drew flak from several political leaders, Chidambaram later issued a clarification saying he did not refer to any state or region or language or race or religion and was conscious that every one who came to work in Delhi was, in a sense, a migrant, including himself.
Thackeray said Chidambaram spoke about "the same things about Delhi that Sena has been saying about Mumbai for the last so many years."
"Earlier, Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit had condemned the onsalught of migrants on the national capital. She spoke the truth and now, Chidambaram also spoke the truth," he said.
"However, the way Chidambaram immediately withdrew the statement showed the (extent to which) Congressmen go to appease voters," the Sena chief said.
Politicians and politics of votes are to blame for the anarchy in Mumbai, the Sena chief said. "The hordes of migrants coming to Mumbai is a national calamity," he said.
