Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackery on Sunday sounded the bugle for the BMC and local body polls by calling for all Marathi people, irrespective of their caste, to unite in order to save Maharashtra and Marathi from the siege of “others”. While playing the Marathi card, Raj also declared his support to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on condition that the latter worked for the benefit of Maharashtra and the Marathi manoos.
The MNS chief declared that as the people were divided into castes and religions, they did not present a united front before the government and political parties as Marathis. “Look at how Tamil Nadu fights for its pride when the central government tries to impose Hindi,” he said. “But we are a surrendered society. I have not seen anyone as confused as the Marathi manoos ever.”
Raj said he would not blame the people since financial and social insecurity was responsible for their lack of fight. “Political parties and leaders are dividing you on the basis of caste to divert your attention from the real problems of life such as education, agriculture and employment,” he said. “But you should unite as Marathis and once you do that, political leaders will be scared of you.”
As an example, the MNS politician lambasted the politics played even in the brutal murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh. “Why are we giving an angle of Vanjari versus Maratha to this murder?” he said. “Politicians are doing so to divert you from the real issues.” Raj declared that no politician had ever benefited his community. “Most of Maharashtra’s CMs, ministers and MLAs were Marathas,” he said. “What did they do for their community? Why were Marathas forced to fight for reservation?”
Raj said that Maharashtra and the Marathi language were besieged by others and ordered MNS workers to check all banks and establishments and ensure the use of Marathi there. “How dare they say they don’t understand and speak Marathi?” he demanded. “Marathi is the language of Maharashtra, and everyone will have to respect it. He also said that Marathi youths were not getting jobs and projects because they were awarded to “outsiders”.
