Raj Thackeray-led MNS grabs Hindi row as lifeline before BMC polls

The BJPled Maharashtra governmentrsquos move to make Hindi mandatory in all schools across the state seems to have handed a political lifeline to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS ahead of the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC pollsmdashat a time when the party is still reeling from a string of electoral defeatsOn Thursday MNS chief Raj Thackeray warned the government not to proceed with its decision to enforce Hindi as a compulsory subject across the state A day later he convened a meeting of party leaders instructing them to continue agitating and to mobilise public support against the governmentrsquos move ldquoRajsaheb has instructed us not to let go of this issue Write to people and seek their participation in this protestrdquo said an MNS leaderLike several critics leaders from both the MNS and Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray UBT Shiv Sena camp believe the change in education policy is politically motivated aimed at influencing the upcoming BMC elections ldquoDividing Marathi votes and polarising nonMarathi voters is likely to benefit the BJPrdquo said a political observerMNS president Raj Thackeray at a function at Shivaji Park Dadar File picRane AshishLast year on the day of the Assembly poll results midday reported in a story titled ldquoNext on BJPrsquos horizonmdashBMC electionsrdquo that the partyrsquos central and state leadership had set their sights on Indiarsquos richest civic body The BMC elections were initially scheduled for early 2022 but polls for the 227 corporator seats have been pending for nearly three years The last BMC elections were held on February 21 2017 Elections for the BMC and other municipal bodies in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region MMR are expected by the end of 2025Veteran political journalist Prakash Akolkar believes Uddhav Thackerayrsquos Hindutva vote bank has already been dented and the governmentrsquos new policy aims to weaken Shiv Sena UBTrsquos Marathi voter base ahead of civic pollsAkolkar pointed out that the timing of the move is suspect ldquoWithin 24 hours of Deputy CM Eknath Shinde meeting Raj Thackeray the GR was issued More importantly it was the MNS chief who first raised the red flag This looks scripted with twin aim of dividing Marathi votes and propping up MNS to undercut the UBT factionrdquoRaj and UBT leader Sanjay Raut have openly stated that the governmentrsquos push for Hindi is a calculated ploy to split Marathi votes before the BMC elections In a veiled attack on the ruling BJP Thackeray said the language row was a deliberate attempt to pit one Marathi against another for political gain ldquoFor personal benefit these people read BJP want to incite the public Marathispeaking people must understand the game behind this moverdquo he tweetedHe also appealed to other political parties to take pride in Marathi identity to oppose the decision ldquoToday theyrsquore making language compulsory Tomorrow there will be more diktats MNS will not tolerate this at any costrdquo Raj warned in his postShiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray had launched the party in 1966 to fight injustice against the ldquosons of the soilrdquo His estranged nephew Raj broke away and launched the MNS in 2006 on a similar plankSince its inception Raj has positioned himself as a champion of Marathi pride That positioning paid off in 2009 when the MNS won 13 Assembly seats with a vote share of 571 per centHowever the party failed to sustain its early momentum In the 2024 Assembly elections the MNS managed just 181 per cent of the vote and failed to win a single seat According to the Election Commissionrsquos rules a partyrsquos recognition can be revoked if it fails to win a seat and secure at least eight per cent of the vote or meet other voteseat ratio criteriaUnsurprisingly the MNS is now leaving no stone unturned in opposing the governmentrsquos Hindi mandate The Congress and the UBT faction of Shiv Sena have also voiced their oppositionOther sideThose alleging a BJPMNS nexus in the language row are making baseless claims as they have nothing substantial to offer ldquoWhen it comes to Marathi pride and language the MNS does not indulge in politics The outrage and protest over the language issue stem purely from respect and love for Marathirdquo MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande told middayHistory of civic pollsShiv SenaBJP had an alliance and ruled BMC for over two decades However Indias oldest and longest political alliance which was inked on the Hindutva agenda saw a splitBoth saffron parties decided to contest BMC polls separately which worked in favour of the BJP as its tally jumped from 31 in 2012 elections to 82 seats in 2017 Of the total 227 seats in 2017 Shiv Sena then undivided Sena won 84 of them while the BJP bagged 82 Uddhav Thackerayrsquos party then bagged 304137 of the vote share compared to the BJPrsquos 2828 per centThen MNS had bagged 852 per cent of votes For the coming civic polls the alleged aim to divide Marathi votes is nothing but a game plan to bridge the gap between the number of seats won and voting percentage too in comparison to Uddhav Thackerayrsquos Sena campDespite repeated attempts state BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye was unavailable for comment27No of corporator seats in Mumbai2017Year BMC elections were last heldatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params