MUMBAI: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray today asked the Maharashtra government to act on a media report that four youths from the region are believed to have joined militants in Iraq.
"The newspaper report is a very serious issue and the state government should take appropriate action in the matter.
The government also kept quiet in the Ishrat Jahan (encounter case) matter. Will the state government act in this case at least?" Uddhav asked.
He was referring to a newspaper report which stated that four youngsters from the Mumbai region are believed to have joined the ISIS militants to fight government forces in Iraq.
Uddhav was talking to reporters at his party office in suburban Mumbai after welcoming Kishor Kanhere, a close aide of NCP stalwart and PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal from the Vidarbha region, into the Shiv Sena today.
Putting rumours of Bhujbal joining the Sena to rest, Thackeray said, "The entry of all those who had troubled the Sena chief (Bal Thackeray) is banned in Shiv Sena."
Thackeray further said that he will formally induct Deepak Kesarkar, the NCP MLA from Sawantwadi in Sindhudurg district, into the party next month.
"I have had a talk with Kesarkar and he will be formally joining the party in the first week of August. I will myself be visiting the Sawantwadi region in August and induct him and all his supporters in the party," he said.
Kesarkar, whose diatribe against state minister and Congress strongman Narayan Rane had caused a huge embarrassment to top party leadership in run-up to Lok Sabha polls, had yesterday announced his decision to cross over to Shiv Sena ahead of upcoming Assembly elections.
Kesarkar had accused Industries Minister Narayan Rane of promoting "goondaism and one-upmanship" as far as running the political affairs in the coastal district is concerned.