As he intensified his campaign ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, Raj Thackeray, the leader of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), brought up the sensitive topic of migration from North India once more. He framed the civic votes as a pivotal time for the “Marathi manoos.”
Speaking to party workers, Thackeray cautioned migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh against what he called the destruction of Maharashtra’s linguistic and cultural identity and the imposition of Hindi.
Linking the problem to jobs, land, and political power in Mumbai and Maharashtra, he warned against imposing the language on the state while making it clear that he is not against it per se.
“I don’t dislike the language, but I will kick you if you try to force it.” They are encroaching on Maharashtra from all directions and stealing your share. You will be done if the country and language are lost. This problem has reached your door today,” Thackeray remarked.
Thackeray claimed that the Marathi community will eventually be weakened by the loss of land and language, and that widespread migration was decreasing the options open to natives.
He urged voters to come together in support of Maharashtra’s future and Marathi identity, calling the next civic elections a turning point and the “last election for the Marathi man.”
The MNS chief cited Mumbai’s past to argue that the city was established on the sacrifices made by people, and he questioned how those sacrifices would be justified if residents lost control of their own city.
Additionally, he gave party employees organizational instructions, emphasizing the importance of being vigilant on election day and requesting that booth-level agents stay vigilant to avoid anomalies.
Ahead of the high-stakes BMC elections, which are widely regarded as a pivotal struggle for control over India’s wealthiest civic body, there is a resurgent political mobilization over identity concerns, which coincides with the scathing rhetoric.
Raj Thackeray had before attacked the BJP more broadly, claiming that forces aiming to split Mumbai from Maharashtra were currently in control of both the state and the federal government.
He cautioned that the Marathi population would be politically marginalized if such forces took over municipal corporations.
In a recent joint interview with Uddhav Thackeray, the president of the Shiv Sena (UBT), which was published in Saamana, Raj stated that their unity was for the “Marathi manoos'” future rather than for their own political survival.
Following the declaration last month of an alliance between the MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT) for the January 15 BMC elections, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut and director Mahesh Manjrekar did the interview.
Raj Thackeray asserted during the interview that migration into Maharashtra was no longer restricted to individuals looking for work, claiming that migrants were now creating their own political constituencies. He argued that this development presented long-term difficulties for local identity and representation.
