By IANS,
New Delhi : Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh Friday called Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray a “Hitler” for orchestrating attacks on north Indians and described him as “mentally ill”.
“What Raj Thackeray has been doing is what Hitler did in Germany. Both Hitler and Raj Thackeray are mentally ill persons,” Amar Singh told reporters here.
“This is terrorism. This can be destructive to the integrity of India,” he said.
Mumbai has seen a spurt in violence directed against non-Maharashtrians, particularly those from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which has been blamed on the MNS.
Fearing attacks from MNS activists during Chhath puja celebrations, Amar Singh said they would not celebrate the festival in Maharashtra.
“We appeal to even Laluji (Railway Minister Lalu Prasad) and (Steel Minister Ram Vilas) Paswan to avoid going to Maharashtra for Chhath puja,” he said.
Amar Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, also said that his party was not satisfied with the way the central government has handled the violence against non-Maharashtrians. But he denied the Samajwadi Party would consequently stop supporting the government.
Amar singh, who was accompanied by Lok Sabha member Ram Gopal Yadav, also released the list of his party’s candidates for the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.
He announced the names of 111 candidates for Madhya Pradesh and 23 for Rajasthan. Madhya Pradesh goes to the polls Nov 27 and Rajasthan Dec 4. The Samajwadi Party leader released names of 28 candidates for Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls.
Amar Singh ruled out an alliance with the Congress in the Madhya Pradesh elections.
He said: “In Madhya Pradesh, we will not have any alliance with the Congress. We will fight all the seats and we are talking to smaller parties (for tie-ups).”
Asked if the move will divide the secular votes, Amar Singh said: “The Congress as a bigger party should take initiative to avoid the division of secular votes. We wanted an alliance with them, but the Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh were not keen.”
He also denied the possibility of forming an alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party rebel Uma Bharti.
Reiterating the demand for a judicial probe into the Jamia Nagar shootout in Delhi, which the party said was a “fake encounter”, Amar Singh said even Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was ready to go ahead with the probe.
The party has been demanding a judicial probe in the Sep 19 firefight in which two suspected terrorists were gunned down.
On the issue of Pragya Singh Thakur, who has been arrested by Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) for her alleged involvement in the September 29 Malegaon blast, Amar Singh said it was “baseless” on the part of veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajnath Singh to deny her being a part of a Hindu outfit.