MNS chief Raj Thackeray, who is known for targeting north Indian migrants, has sparked a controversy yet again by blaming influx of outsiders for incidents like the recent rape of a photo journalist, with parties accusing him of politicing the issue.        

Congress alleged that the MNS chief was trying to get "cheap political mileage". "I think, he is again trying to politicise the issue to get cheap mileage. How can you say this?...Mumbai police have nabbed one person and others are also likely to be nabbed," Union Minister Rajiv Shukla said.  

Another party leader Sanjay Nirupam said that the statement by Thackeray is "completely uncalled for". "When the city is going through such a painful crisis, there was no need to make any such political statement to hurt communities. Basically criminals are criminals. They don't belong to any community and there are criminals in each and every community. Because of some criminals, you cannot blame the whole community. I condemn this statement," Nirupam said.        

RJD chief Lalu Prasad said that tough action should be taken against the perpetrators of the gangrape incident irrespective of whether outsiders are involved or insiders.