Maharashtra Reconstruction Party chief Raj Thackeray speaks to the media during his visit to Gandhi Ashram in Ahmadabad, India, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011. Thackeray is here for a nine-day visit of Gujarat to study the Gujarat model of development under the rule of Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Thackeray has made his name as a xenophobic, rabble-rousing politician championing the Marathi language and the rights of residents of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital.