Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari kicks up row

Mumbai: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has said that there will be no money left in Mumbai and it will cease to be the financial capital of the country if Gujaratis and Rajasthanis are removed from the city.

As his statement made during an event on Friday evening kicked up a row with political parties objecting to it, the governor on Saturday said his comments were "misconstrued", and also made it clear that he had "no intention of belittling the hard work of the Marathi-speaking people in the progress and development of Maharashtra".

"I tell people here that if Gujaratis and Rajasthanis are removed from Maharashtra, especially Mumbai and Thane, you will have no money and Mumbai will not be a financial capital," the governor said after the naming ceremony of a chowk (square) in Andheri, a western suburb of Mumbai.