India, Jan. 13 -- Raking up a 1960s anti-South Indian slogan of the Shiv Sena in his Sunday rally at Shivaji Park, Raj Thackeray revived old wounds in the Tamil community, which demanded an apology from him. The fracas was triggered by former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai's controversial campaign remark on January 9 that 'Bombay' was not a Maharashtrian city but an international one.

The MNS chief played a video of the statement that had riled him and Uddhav Thackeray and subsequently blew up into a huge controversy. The Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Akhil Chitre also shared the video, alleging that Annamalai's statement betrayed the BJP's real intention: to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra.

On Monday, Annamalai, who Raj had referred to as '...