Raj Thackeray in 'bhaiyya' cake controversy
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Raj Thackeray is in the midst of a birthday cake controversy that has given a new twist to the Marathi-speaking versus North Indians issue in the state.Raj allegedly cut a cake bearing the word Bhaiyya in Hindi on his birthday in Mumbai, a video clip of which was leaked out Friday.
Event list
Top office-bearers of his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) fumbled for a convincing explanation at the sudden development, which has caught the party by surprise.
“We have a lot of north Indian activists in the MNS and it must have been brought by one such activist, but we cannot recollect who,” party vice-president Vageesh Saraswat told IANS this afternoon.
He claimed that the word 'Bhaiyya' on the cake probably meant that Raj Thackeray was like the elder brother of the person who presented it, and “it should not be construed that we are against north Indians.”
“Moreover, something is always inscribed on any cake as per the occasion. This time, it was 'Bhaiyya' since a north Indian party worker brought the cake. It was not intended to spread hatred against anybody,” Saraswat emphasised.