Penguin death: Congress taunts Aaditya Thackeray

The recent death of a Humboldt penguin at Byculla Zoo has turned into a political hot potato with the National Youth Congress (NYC) putting up banners in the city taunting Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray over the occurrence and Sena retaliating by tearing and bringing them down.

The NYC on Tuesday put up several banners in the city, particularly the area in Bandra where the Thackeray family resides. The banners, replete with pictures of a blood-soaked penguin, blamed one Yuvraj aka prince, a term reportedly used for Aaditya, for the penguin’s death. They also had messages such as “Yuvraj, Mala Mumbai La Aanu Naka (Prince, do not bring me to Mumbai)”, “Maroon Dakhavala, Yuvrajancha Vijay Aso (We killed it. Long live the prince!), and “Rani Bagetil Tya Nishpap Pakshyachya Mrutyula Jababdar Kon (Who is responsible for the death of that innocent bird at Rani Baug/Byculla Zoo Of these, “Maroon Dakhavala, Yuvrajancha Vijay Aso” was a dig at Sena’s slogan “Karun Dakhavla (We did it)”, which was coined by Aaditya during the last BMC polls to portray development works carried out by the party.

The posters became a talking point however miffed Sena workers took to the streets and brought them down. Nitin Deshmukh, a NYC official, said, “We wanted to send out a message to Mumbaikars with these banners. Mumbai’s climate is not ideal for the survival of penguins but Sena still brought them here on Aaditya’s insistence. Our fears came true when a penguin died at the Byculla Zoo. Who is responsible for this ”

Aaditya was unavailable for comments.