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Mumbai

Incensed by her reported comment comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the German dictator Adolf Hitler, BJP corporators here today staged a dharna before the office of city mayor Snehal Ambekar and demanded a clarification from the Shiv Sena corporator.

Over 25 corporators, led by BJP leader in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Manoj Kotak, staged the protest at mayor’s office in BMC building in South Mumbai.

“We are here to seek a clarification from our Mayor over her remark. She should clarify if the newspaper that carried her interview has misquoted her or not,” said Kotak.

“You are the first citizen of the city and hold a constitutional post. Your statements should be very dignified in nature,” the BJP corporator added.

Another BJP corporator said, “Three Lok Sabha members of the Sena could win last year only because of Modi.” 

Meanwhile, Manisha Kayande, spokesperson of Shiv Sena, downplayed the issue saying, “the Mayor’s statement could be a case of wrong selection of words. She might have wanted to term Modi-ji as a hard task-master or a strict ruler, but she ended up using the word Hitler.” 

In an interview to a city tabloid, Ambekar was quoted as saying that “I even admire Mr Narendra Modi for his self-reliant way of working, but at some level I feel his rule is Hitler-‘shaahi’. This is bound to happen when power is concentrated in one hand.” 

“Uddhav Thackeray is also someone I look upto because he has no air of superiority like other politicians,” she had said.

PTI