Mumbai, November 14, 2009,

Is Maharashtra on the verge of a new flashpoint of "Goonda Raj"?

Raj Thackeray's party has warned the State Bank of India not to recruit any "outsiders." On Sunday, the bank will conduct exams to recruit new employees. In Maharashtra, the bank has 1100 vacancies. Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has demanded that only Maharashtrians or those living in the state be allowed to take the exam for the Maharashtra openings. The MNS has officially warned the bank about this in a letter written by party leader, Bala Nandgangkar.

Himanshu Roy, a Joint Commissioner of the Mumbai Police, tells NDTV that the State Bank of India has not alerted the police to the MNS threat. He says the police will discuss the issue with the bank to ensure that Sunday's exams "are conducted smoothly."

Speaking to NDTV, a representative of the bank explained that it supports regional representation, and while anybody can apply for a vacancy, preference is given to people fluent in the local language. The official added that the recruitment exam is always conducted with police security.

Thackeray's men have been flexing their muscle with renewed vigour since the MNS won 13 Assembly seats in the recent Maharashtra elections. Earlier this week, as the new Assembly was being sworn in, MNS MLAs slapped and pushed Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi for taking his oath in Hindi instead of Marathi. As a result, four of Thackeray's MLAs were suspended for four years. The MNS said it was willing to apologize to the House, but not to Azmi. Before the Assembly was sworn in, Thackeray had issued a statement asking all members to take the oath in Marathi instead of Hindi. Azmi pointed out that he doesn't speak Marathi fluently, and that Hindi is the national language.