Will not let any `Khan' become Mumbai mayor, says city BJP chief

Mumbai, Nov 6 (PTI) Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam has said that his party would not allow any "Khan" to become the mayor of Mumbai, and clarified later that he was referring to the "anti-national mentality" and not a particular community.

"We will not let any Khan become the mayor of Mumbai," Satam said on Wednesday, speaking at a gathering of party workers ahead of the impending civic polls. The statement came against the backdrop of Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani's victory in the New York mayoral election.

Asked for a clarification of the controversial remark, the BJP leader said, "When I say `Khan', I am talking about a mentality. I have said it on September 17 as well, and I have been warning Mumbaikars about it. This mentality waves Pakistan's flags. I am warning Mumbaikars against a mentality that carries Pakistan's flags at rallies, where a bomb blast accused campaigns for a particular candidate. This is a divisive, radical and fundamentalist mentality. I am talking about Khans who are anti-national." Dismissing allegations that he was targeting a specific community, Satam said, "The hate is not against a community, but against anti-national, radical and fundamentalist elements, those who sympathise with Pakistan or try to weaken India. We will continue to fight such forces." The Mumbai BJP chief further said that on September 17, he had warned that certain western cities had been taken over by radical elements, and the demography of those cities was changing.

"Some political parties here, for appeasement politics, could attempt to replicate that situation, thereby endangering Mumbai's peace and law and order," he claimed.

Satam also alleged that "vote jihad" was visible during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

"In Dhule, BJP candidates led in five assembly segments but trailed by 1.8 lakh votes in Malegaon West. Similarly, in Mumbai North East, our candidate trailed by 87,500 votes in Mankhurd-Shivajinagar and lost by 29,000 votes. In Mumbai North Central, a Congress candidate was told she need not do any work because she had defeated BJP's Ujjwal Nikam, the man who took 26/11 terrorist Kasab to the gallows. Our fight is against such mentality and vote jihad," he said.

The mindset of a leader matters the most besides administrative capacity, Satam said, adding that a person in an administrative position must be "pro-national, not anti-national." Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray was indulging in appeasement politics, he alleged. PTI ND KRK