Mumbai, May 12 (Mumbai Mirror): After Shiv Sena, the Congress has launched an attack on BJP MP Kirit Somaiya over his "Bandra sahib" comments, challenging him to back up his allegations by filing a police complaint. Somaiya said on Tuesday that the BMC was in the "grip of a powerful mafia being controlled by a sahib from Bandra".

"There is a ghotala in every BMC department. There is a Sahib who lives in Bandra; he has two advisors; one his saala (brother-in-law) and the other is sahib's personal aide. Sahib takes orders from the duo and passes them on to the mafia," Somaiya had said, resulting in speculations whether he was referring to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.

While the Sena dismissed Somaiya's comments as frivolous, the Congress' city unit president Sanjay Nirupam demanded that Somaiya identify the 'sahib'. "He should clarify who the 'Bandra Sahib' is? Was he referring to the city BJP president or the Shiv Sena leadership?" Nirupam asked. The BJP's city president, Ashish Shelar, resides in Bandra (W) while Uddhav's house is located in Bandra (E).

"Somaiya has filed police complaints in the irrigation scam, the Maharashtra Sadan scam, and in a few Ponzi schemes operational in the state. Let him now take the same action against this 'Sahib'," Nirupam said.

Somaiya told Mumbai Mirror on Wednesday that he wasn't shying away from his comments. "I have exposed several scams, and over the next few days, will further expose corruption in the BMC," he said. When asked about the Bandra Sahib's identity, Somaiya refused to comment