Mumbai: MNS singing Gujarati tunes?

MNS chief Raj Thackeray with Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in October 2022. File pic/Ashish Rane

Aware that the Gujarati ‘bhai' could swing the polls in Mumbai, the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has suddenly ditched its anti-community stance and is even trying to woo its members.

Hoardings and posters have surfaced in Borivli and social media platforms, announcing the celebration of MNS general secretary Nayan Kadam's birthday on May 7. A grand Gujarati dayro (a folk music programme) has been organised in Borivli East by Jagdish Shah and Chirag Joshi. While Shah is the office-bearer of MNS's legal cell, Joshi is said to be a close friend of Kadam.

Speaking to mid-day, Kadam clarified that the party has nothing to do with the event and that it has been organised by his friends. Speaking further on the matter, he said Borivli is dominated by Marathi and Gujarati speaking people. "I have grown up playing with Gujarati and Maharashtrian friends. In fact, both communities have come so close that most of our Gujarati friends speak good Marathi and vice versa. I have requested the dayro organiser to play Marathi and Hindi songs, too."

Poster announcing a grand Gujarati Dayro for MNS general secretary Nayan Kadam's birthday on May 7

Like Ghatkopar, Mulund, Vile Parle and Kandivli, the Borivli Assembly constituency, too, has a large population of Gujarati voters.

Around a decade back, Raj had been vociferous about the Gujaratis' bias against Maharashtra. In fact, around four years ago, MNS workers had allegedly vandalised Gujarati signboards at shops in Vasai after Raj, in a public speech, said, "Vasai feels like Gujarat these days".

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But given Raj's recent closeness with the BJP and its top leader, there are speculations of a possible alliance between the MNS and the ruling party. Among political circles, it is said that the BJP has a good clout over the Gujarati community in the city. No wonder that the MNS has softened its stand on Gujaratis in Maharashtra, especially in the city and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Asked whether the party still had the same bias against the Gujaratis, Kadam claimed that they never were biased against the community. "Rajsaheb has been consistently saying that one should respect the local language of a state they are in. By that concept, Marathis in Maharashtra should be given priority, especially when it comes to signboards. Over a period, people, including businessmen, have understood that the MNS was never against the Gujarati community and the party's fight was for Maharashtra's pride," Kadam said, trying to play down the development, in clear indication of Raj eyeing an alliance with the BJP.

In the late 1980s, the then Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and BJP leaders had forged an alliance on the common ground of Hindutva. However, India's oldest political alliance witnessed a split in 2019 over claims to the chief minister's post in Maharashtra. Since then, many in political circles have felt that Uddhav Thackeray's estranged cousin will take his place whenever there's official seat sharing or tactical alliance with the BJP in the future.