Thackery was in the habit of making inflammatory speeches particularly against migrants from Bihar to further his regional and chauvinistic political agenda, Modi told reporters here.
Criticising the Centre for failure to take steps against Thackeray, Modi said that it appeared that he enjoyed the patronage of the Congress party in Maharashtra.
In a related development, a case was filed during the day against Thackeray in a court in Muzaffarpur district for the hate speech made by him against Biharis.
Senior advocate Sudhir Ojha filed the case in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate S P Singh under section 124A (sedition), 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups of people) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of IPC.
The judge posted the hearing on September three.