Congress, NCP slam Raj for malaria jibe

MUMBAI: Squabbling coalition partners-the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)-have launched a stinging attack against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray over his "migrants are responsible for malaria outbreak in the city" remark.
Raj had on Sunday said that migrants were responsible for the spread of malaria in the metropolis. The MNS chief also said that locals were finding it difficult to get treatment as migrants had occupied most of the beds in public hospitals.
Chief minister Ashok Chavan, who is in New Delhi to meet Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah over the Babhali irrigation project, termed Raj's statement provocative. Union minister of state for communications and city MP Gurudas Kamat said that Raj was "out of his mind.'' "Does he realise that his own family migrated from Madhya Pradesh and settled here," Kamat asked. He demanded police action against Raj.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Hussain Dalwai urged the government to take strict action against Raj for creating social tension. "Raj's view is illogical and unscientific and deserves to be treated with contempt,'' Dalwai added.
An MNS activist took a dig at Congress, saying that the party had knocked on Raj's door when it needed MNS' support in the legislative council elections. "And now the Congress is denouncing Raj," he added.
Congress MP Priya Dutt also took strong objection to the MNS leader's statement and accused him of "making a mockery of an important issue.'' "Mosquitoes are not selective about whom they bite. It is absurd to blame migrants for the disease."
City NCP president Narendra Verma said Raj's remark was "politically-motivated.''
MNS spokesperson Shirish Parkar said Raj's statement has been misconstrued. "What he said was that the uncontrolled influx of migrants into Mumbai resulted in the rapid growth of slums, which in turn led to poor hygienic conditions. Because of the Congress' vote-bank politics, these slums were not removed,'' he said.