BJP to bank on Hindutva to target Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS
Ahead of the upcoming local body polls across Maharashtra, the BJP has decided to strike a fine balance between protecting Marathi asmita (pride)—a key political plank of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS—and Hindutva, by highlighting its contribution to promoting the Marathi language and safeguarding the interests of Hindi-speaking Hindus from other communities in the state.
The BJP had decided to counter the Opposition's Marathi-Hindi language politics during its core committee meeting last week. In the wake of the June 29 assault of a businessman at Mira Road by MNS workers for not speaking in Marathi, the BJP decided to use the incident to propel its pro-Hindutva stand.
On Thursday, BJP minister Nitesh Rane led the charge, terming the incident an attack on a Hindu. 'We will not tolerate our Hindu brother being attacked in the state,' he said. No stranger to controversial and provocative statements, Rane added, 'If these attackers have the guts, they should go to Mohammed Ali Road and Null Bazaar and force the cap-donning hawkers with beards to speak Marathi. Our pro-Hindutva government will not tolerate it, and strict action will be taken against the attackers.' Mohammed Ali Road and Null Bazaar are predominantly Muslim areas in Mumbai.
According to MNS leaders, the BJP made businessmen in Mira Road take to the streets to protest the assault. This is believed to be part of the BJP's strategy.
BJP insiders said the party's decision to take a stronger stand on the Mira Road incident was triggered in the backdrop of the Mahayuti government scrapping its recent order to introduce Hindi as the third language in primary schools. The BJP-led government had believably rolled back its decision after sensing anger among the Marathi-speaking population. The estranged Thackeray cousins had also announced a grand joint protest march in Mumbai on July 5 to oppose the move.
'We firmly believe that our Hindutva stand on such issues and the introduction of Hindi in school will help us largely in consolidating the non-Marathi voters under the agenda of Hindutva,' said a BJP leader. 'At the same time, we are not opposing Marathi or the Marathi manoos (people), as even that section is appealed to under the larger agenda of Hinduism. Our stand will not damage [our prospects in] the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) or even the rest of Maharashtra, but will damage the Thackerays for the attack on Hindu businessmen.'
The BJP believes this strategy will help it consolidate voters in Hindi- and Gujarati-speaking communities, which dominate some of the nine municipal corporations in MMR, the leader said. As for Mumbai, while the Marathi-speaking population is around 29%, non-Marathi-speaking people dominate the city, the leader added.
'At the same time, not all Marathi-speaking voters will side with the Thackerays even if they decide to come together in the corporation elections. Secondly, it would be difficult for the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena to join hands with Raj if these attacks continue, as Uddhav has been getting the support of Muslims of late. Muslims and north Indians may not support Uddhav Thackeray's party if the hobnobbing between the two brothers continues, as they hate Raj Thackeray for his stand taken against them over the years,' the leader said.
A senior BJP leader and member of the core committee said that the party would undertake a drive to reach out to Marathi voters and talk about its contribution to the conservation of the language. 'We will tell people that Marathi got the status of a classical language because of the central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Modi government introduced regional languages in civil service and banking exams. And as such, there was no question of secondary treatment of the language in Maharashtra. The party will showcase how the Uddhav Thackeray-led party pushed the Marathi manoos out of Mumbai. We firmly believe that the strategy would help us even if the two Thackerays come together and, in fact, damage them more,' the leader added.
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