Zee Media Bureau

Mumbai: Writer Shobhaa De sparked a controversy on Wednesday by saying that Mumbai could fancy itself becoming an independent entity.

De tweeted: "Maharashtra and Mumbai??? Why not? Mumbai has always fancied itself as an independent entity, anyway. This game has countless possibilities".

Her tweet comes a day after Congress Working Committee and the UPA endorsed the formation of a separate state of Telangana, to be carved out from Andhra Pradesh.

Reacting to De`s tweet, MNS chief Raj Thackeray said that creating a state was not as easy as getting a divorce.

This is seen to be a personal attack on the writer and columnist who divorced and remarried.

The Shiv Sena too slammed Shobhaa De. Shiv Sena said that De was talking like someone drunk after a Page 3 party. Party spokesperson Sanjay Raut asked the Maharashtra government to register an offence for her remark. He added that those who did not know how to respect Maharashtra will be taught how to do so.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party while condemning De`s comments said that such demands were not acceptable and statements like these should not be made.

The BJP also hit back at the writer for her tweet on Mumbai and asked the state government led by the NCP to take action against her.

De clarified later saying that her tweet was satirical tweet and was posted in the context of the newly-proposed Telangana state. She added that her comment should not be taken literally as she was neither recommending nor endorsing it.

She further explained that her comment was on political parties who take advantage of narrow interests when elections are round the corner. Shobhaa De also brushed aside MNS chief`s remarks and said that she did not take them seriously.