Assembly polls sees North Indian bashing-MNS sidling up to them in Hindi
Assembly polls sees North Indian bashing-MNS sidling up to them in Hindi
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) may hate north Indians and the Hindi language, but it has no qualms in courting north Indians with Hindi campaign pamphlets for the forthcoming assembly elections.
Chandu More, MNS candidate for the Kalina assembly constituency, has printed and published pamphlets in Hindi. The pamphlet appeals to the people to vote for More and also informs voters of the voting day and the place to vote. The Kalina assembly constituency includes a large number of north Indian voters who will play a crucial role in the assembly elections and also decide who gets elected from the constituency.
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MNS candidate Neela Desai from Malad, who is also on a door-to-door campaign, seeks blessings from a bedridden senior citizen
pic/ Pradeep Dhivar |
Moreover, More is fighting Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) president Kripashankar Singh, who holds considerable influence amongst the North Indians in the city. The MNS had been consistently running a campaign against north Indians and also on their behaviour and their alleged attempts to gain political supremacy in the city. However, it seems that MNS has realised that they have no choice but to seek support of the large numbers of North Indians in some constituencies.
MNS vice president Vageesh Saraswat defends the party's double standards saying, "Some candidates are printing pamphlets in Hindi wherever it is necessary. We don't oppose Hindi, as it is our national language, but we are only insisting that Marathi should be spoken and respected in Maharashtra."
North ConnectIn the last Lok Sabha elections, Shiv Sena candidates printed pamphlets in as many as three or four languages, including Gujarati and Hindi.u00a0u00a0
The Congress has kept up its image of being all inclusive and Chief Minister Ashok Chavan during the release of its manifesto, reiterated that strict action would be taken against those who indulge in communal violence.The Congress is also planning to rope in Bhojpuri film star Ravi Kishen and comedian Raju Shrivastava during the campaign to woo North Indian voters in the city.u00a0
