MUMBAI - Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray Wednesday called his estranged nephew Raj Thackeray a “modern day Jinnah” playing into the hands of the Congress to divide the sons of the soil.

In an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamna’, Thackeray senior said there was no place for Marathis in the Congress that is seeking re-election for a third consecutive term.

“There are persons like Kripa Shankar Singh, Murli Deora and Taklya (Gurudas) Kamat who are ruling the fate of the Congress. The Congress is bent on dividing the Maharashtrians to come to power. Towards this aim, it has taken the support of a ‘naalayak aulaad’ (unworthy child) like Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (led by Raj Thackeray),” the editorial said.

Warning that this would be a dangerous game, Thackeray said the Muslim League and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, brainwashed by the British, had broken up the country in the name of religion. And Raj was doing the same in cahoots with the Congress.

“This time, the Congress has already sowed the seeds to divide the Marathis. In the past it was Jinnah, this time it’s a family member who is the Jinnah,” he noted.

Thackeray said, however, nothing could be done if somebody, “out of sheer jealousy, wanted to capture ‘raj’ (power) at any cost.”

But, he cautioned that just as Jinnah and Pakistan were never happy, even the new Jinnah (Raj Thackeray) would have to suffer for dividing the Marathis in the state.

Thackeray expressed confidence that the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party combine would be voted to power in the Oct 13 elections.