Praful Patel lashes out at MNS, Shiv Sena

Belgaum: Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel today came down heavily against the 'chauvinistic' attitude of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena, which had opposed Samajwadi Party Legislator Abu Asim Azmi taking oath in Hindi in the recently constituted Assembly.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function here, where he inaugurated Quest Global SEZ for aerospace engineering in this district of North Karnataka, Mr Patel said the 'chauvinistic' elements should be put down with an iron heavy hand. They had no right to attack people who did not speak in their language, he said.

''The government should come down with a heavy hand on anybody who do not abide by the law or do not respect others, he said. On the issue of people coming to Mumbai from others states, he said, ''We are a country where there is room for everybody and everybody is welcome. There is no question that one city or one state is only for local people. After all we live in a democratic society and everybody is equal and has same rights.'' He said the argument of only locals can be citizens of any particular state or somebody trying to put curbs on outsiders would not work and it was not acceptable. ''Everybody has right to live with respect and dignity in a place he or she chooses,'' he added.