Mumbai Chiding Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for his statement that non-Maharashtrian mercantile communities like the Gujaratis and Rajasthanis were responsible for Mumbai’s status as the financial capital of India, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said that central enforcement agencies were acting against Maharashtrian entrepreneurs.
In his weekly column on Sunday in the party’s mouthpiece Saamana, Raut, who is the newspaper’s executive editor, said that while the Maharashtrians did not control the finances of Mumbai, history was witness to how they had forged the city and its fortunes over the centuries. The column was written before Raut was arrested last week by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged money laundering case.
“In Mumbai, the Marathi manoos kept labouring hard and fighting adversity. Everyone else came here only for lakshmi darshan (earning money),” he charged. Raut added that Gujarati traders had come to Mumbai in the 17th century during the reign of the East India Company to escape religious persecution at the hands of the Muslim rulers of Gujarat.
“It is true that they (Gujaratis) run the finances of Mumbai, but this does not reduce the importance of the working class,” said Raut, while also pointing to how Marathi philanthropists like Jagannath ‘Nana’ Shankarseth and Dr Bhau Daji Lad were responsible for the development of Mumbai.
“Gujarat and Maharashtra were once part of one state. Now, they are twin siblings. Then, why try to sour their relationship?” Raut questioned Koshyari, who has since apologised for his comments after a massive furore.
“Mumbai is part of Maharashtra’s geography and the Marathi manoos have the first right over it. He may be weak in terms of finance and now, earning money is itself an offence. The ED has shuttered the sugar factories, spinning mills and other industries owned by the Marathi manoos and has launched an offensive against Marathi entrepreneurs,” said Raut, urging the Governor to speak about this as well.
“Only one state and community are getting the opportunity to earn money and this has spoiled the economics of not just Mumbai, but other regions as well,” he added.