Nitesh Rane said that he wants to begin PM Narendra Modi's 'Clean India' campaign from Mumbai by cleaning the city of all the Gujaratis who hate Marathis.

Mumbai: Congress MLA Nitesh Rane has stoked a controversy by saying that he wants to begin Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Clean India' campaign from Mumbai by cleaning the city of all the Gujaratis who hate Marathis.

"Wanna take part in Swacha Bharat abhiyan n start from mumbai!! Wanna start cleaning up all the Marathi hating gujjus from there once for all," Rane posted on Twitter on Wednesday.

Wanna take part in Swacha Bharat abhiyan n start from mumbai!! Wanna start cleaning up all the Marathi hating gujjus from there once for all — nitesh rane (@NiteshNRane) November 5, 2014

Nitesh, the son of senior Congress leader Narayan Rane, had earlier also courted controversy by alleging that the Gujarati community was trying to take control over Mumbai.

"We are not against Gujaratis who want to remain in harmony, but are against those who want to take control of the city," Nitesh had then tweeted.

Defending his anti-Gujarati tweet posted on Wednesday, Rane on Thursday said attention should also be drawn towards the hate statements made (by Gujaratis) almost everyday.

"So much ho ha abt my statement on the Marathi hating gujjus but no 1 is focussing on the hate statements passed by them almost everyday," he tweeted.

So much ho ha abt my statement on the Marathi hating gujjus but no 1 is focussing on the hate statements passed by them almost everyday — nitesh rane (@NiteshNRane) November 6, 2014

However, senior Congress leader Manikrao Thakre said the party disapproves of such remarks.

"Congress disapproves such comments. I will speak to Nitesh, but this is not the party view," Thakre told reporters when asked to comment on Rane's remarks.

PTI