When Raj Thackeray campaigned for Congress!

NEW DELHI - More than a few eyebrows were raised when people thought they saw Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on the dais at a Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) rally in Thane. Was it really Raj Thackeray?

Even as the organisers were smug about their star campaigner, many in the audience rubbed their eyes with disbelief and could not believe their ears when the speaker in question started speaking on issues which are not exactly the agenda of MNS, known for its bashing of north Indians.

Later, it transpired that the speaker was Dharmalingam Baba Swami, a Raj Thackeray lookalike.

Party sources said that even senior Congress leader and former chief minister Narayan Rane couldn’t make out the difference when he first saw Swami and was surprised thinking that Thackeray was at the public meeting.

Swami, however, enjoys his new celebrity status. ‘People flock to meet me or shake hands and take autographs. Even when I tell them who I am, they don’t believe. What do I do?’ he said.