Shiv Sena dissidents threaten Thackerays

New Delhi: Shiv Sena dissidents from northern India who will launch a new political party this month have threatened Raj and Uddhav Thackeray with counter-violence over attacks on Hindi speakers in Maharashtra.

"We have decided to form a new party, the Rashtrawadi Shiv Sena. Bal Thackeray's Shiv Sena is only for Maharashtrians. But we want to take the whole nation with us," said Jai Bhagwan Goyal, former head of the north India unit of Shiv Sena.

"If Raj ever comes to Delhi we will break his legs. I have told Bal Thackeray that if the violence occurs again, the Shiv Sena MPs visiting Delhi may have to face the music," said Goyal, venting his anger at Raj Thackeray, founder of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

Goyal and state chiefs of the Shiv Sena from five north Indian states resigned from the party in March to protest Bal Thackeray and his son Uddhav Thackeray's diatribe against north Indians living in Maharashtra. Violence erupted when Bal Thackeray's estranged nephew Raj hit out at north Indians, sparking violence in which several people were injured.