UBT Steps Up Attack on Annamalai, Questions Maharashtra BJP Leaders’ Reaction

The Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray, has intensified its attack on BJP leader K. Annamalai following his controversial remarks about Mumbai during a campaign visit for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. In an editorial published in the party mouthpiece Saamana, the Sena (UBT) accused Annamalai of being “anti-Maharashtra” and questioned the silence of Maharashtra’s BJP leaders, branding them “impotent” for failing to condemn his statements.

The controversy erupted after Annamalai, a former IPS officer and ex-chief of the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit, addressed a gathering in Mumbai last week. Advocating for a “triple engine” administration—Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the center, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the state, and a BJP mayor in the BMC—he declared, “Mumbai is not a Maharashtra city but an international city.” He highlighted the city’s ₹75,000 crore budget compared to Chennai’s ₹8,000 crore and Bengaluru’s ₹19,000 crore, arguing that Mumbai requires capable administrators to manage its finances and development.

The remarks drew sharp criticism from the Thackeray cousins—Uddhav and Raj—who have reunited for the BMC polls. Uddhav Thackeray described Annamalai’s comments as exposing the BJP’s “hidden agenda” against Maharashtra’s interests. Raj Thackeray mocked the BJP leader by calling him “Rasmalai,” a reference to the popular sweet dish, implying he was soft or irrelevant on Mumbai issues. Annamalai hit back defiantly from Chennai, saying, “Some have written that they will cut my legs if I come to Mumbai. I will come to Mumbai—try cutting my legs.” He dismissed the criticism as ignorance, asserting that calling Mumbai a world-class city does not diminish the contributions of Maharashtrians, just as praising historical Tamil leader Kamaraj does not make him less Tamil.

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The Saamana editorial escalated the row further, accusing Annamalai of betraying Tamil Nadu as well. It recalled the historical alliance between Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu against Hindi imposition and criticized Maharashtra’s BJP leaders for their silence. The piece specifically targeted BJP figure Kripashankar Singh, who had previously claimed the next BMC mayor would be a Hindi speaker, calling such statements anti-Maharashtra. “Many Marathi BJP leaders were around when the anti-Maharashtra Rasmalai was poured, but they didn’t react; that’s a sign of impotence,” the editorial stated.

The exchange highlights the increasingly bitter and personal tone of the BMC election campaign, where control of Asia’s richest civic body is fiercely contested. Sena (UBT) is positioning itself as the staunch defender of Marathi pride and Mumbai’s identity, while accusing the BJP of allowing outsiders to undermine local sentiments. The war of words between the Thackerays and Annamalai, combined with the “impotence” jab at BJP leaders, has dominated political discourse in Maharashtra ahead of the crucial civic polls.

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