The Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena combine came down heavily on Maharashtra's Congress-led coalition government.
The Sena chief's speech was full of fiery bursts. He began with the issue of Mumbai's increasing population and, as expected, trained his guns on Bangladeshis in the city.
He added ballast to Sena's Mee Mumbaikar campaign by targeting Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. "What does Lalu do? Doesn't he have any responsibility as a father, having nine children," Thackeray asked amid laughter. "Lalu speaks like a traffic havildar," he said. More laughter.
The attack on Lalu was apparently for his defence of the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (read North Indians, who have made Mumbai their base of operation).
He also referred to Bihar as 'anaath ashram' (orphanage).