50% flats must go to locals: Sena

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Tuesday warned that no construction of residential complexes in Mumbai would be permitted if flats in the new buildings are not reserved for Marathi-speaking people. He said up to 50% of the flats should be kept aside by builders for "sons of the soil."

Thackeray did not specify the area of such flats but said these should be of reasonable size. In an interview to party organ Saamna , the Sena boss indicated his party might launch an agitation in support of its demand. He said earlier the Sena had fought for jobs for the local people and now its priority is housing.

Many builders contacted by TOI said Thackeray's demand would not stand up to judicial scrutiny. If anyone challenges his "fatwa," the courts are bound to strike it down, they said.

A leading builder observed, "Balasaheb should make a beginning by asking his party leaders like Manohar Joshi, who are builders, to reserve flats for Marathi-speaking people in their projects. Joshi is building a huge residential complex at Kurla."

He said the Sena missed an opportunity to provide cheap housing for Maharashtrians when it was in power. It could have acquired land under Urban Land Ceiling Act and given it to housing societies of Maharashtrians, he added.

In Navi Mumbai, a group of Marathi builders have banded together and promised to provide cheap housing to Marathi-speaking people. But some of them are reportedly rethinking their move since the sheer economics of the market will edge them out of business.

Sena insiders say Thackeray, whose 82nd birthday is being celebrated by his followers on Wednesday, is shrewdly playing the Marathi card in the run up to the 2009 assembly elections. "Nobody understands the pulse of the Marathi middle-class as Thackeray does," a Congress leader admitted.

Incidentally, Thackeray appears to have anticipated criticism over the fact that all his grandsons go to English-medium schools.

He has sought to neutralise this by quickly pointing out in the interview that he makes all of them read Marathi newspapers daily and speak the language at home. Thackeray has also reiterated that NCP chief Sharad Pawar was ideal prime ministerial material but the company of Congress had "tainted" his image. He said L K Advani was well suited to be the PM.

The Sena chief praised his son and Sena executive president Uddhav for leading the party to victory in the MCGM (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai). He said Uddhav had performed satisfactorily in the past five years.

Thackeray also spoke strongly against the Sachar committee report which favours "major concessions" for Muslims. "The UPA government is incapable of hanging Afzal Guru, found guilty of the terror attack on Parliament. Sonia Gandhi will destroy the country and go to Italy. Which other country do you have?" he asked the interviewer.