Mumbai: After nearly two decades, estranged cousins Raj and Uddhav Thackeray will share the political stage at a rally on 5 July against the imposition of Hindi in school education.
The rare joint appearance marks a significant step towards a possible union of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.
“There is no agenda here. Only a plain, simple agenda of the Marathi language. Just like how the fight for Samyukta Maharashtra was fought without any political agenda and all people from different ideologies came together, similarly, Mumbai will have to put up another fight. And this fight will also be led by a Thackeray,” Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said to the media.
Raut added that invitations would be extended to all political party leaders to join hands for the cause of the Marathi language.
MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande told the media that the attack on the Marathi language in Maharashtra was growing and needed to be thwarted.
“We have unanimously decided to hold a rally on 5 July for Marathi. In this rally, people from all fields, be it literature, cinema, or political parties, will participate. And we will show what the strength of Marathi people is and will give out a message that if you attack Marathi manoos, we have the ability to overturn this attack. I believe this is a positive step,” Deshpande said.
For the past few months, speculation has grown that the Thackeray cousins would form an alliance for the BMC polls, after both appeared to extend olive branches.
With the Marathi manoos and Marathi pride issue taking centrestage, both the Thackerays found common ground. In the last 2 months, both met on at least four non-political occasions, signalling a thaw in their relationship.
Posters and banners of workers of both parties wishing for the estranged cousins to come together cropped up across Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra.
But Raj Thackeray’s meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis last month suggested the MNS leader was keeping his options open.
Meanwhile, at the Shiv Sena foundation day last week, Uddhav Thackeray announced to party workers that he “will do whatever the people of Maharashtra want” and will take a call on alliance at an opportune time, once again hinting at a possible alliance.
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One-off event or a sign of things to come?
The announcement of both coming together for a rally could further cement talks of the cousins allying for the BMC polls.
However, cabinet minister and Shinde’s Shiv Sena MLA Uday Samant dismissed it as a one-off event.
“Just because somebody is aligning on one thought, does not mean there will be any political alliance. We will have to wait and watch whether their ideology also matches for a political alliance. During elections, we will only get to see who is with whom. Till then, there is no point in talking about a possible alliance of both (the cousins),” Samant told the media.
Political analyst Prakash Bal told ThePrint that while the Marathi language is an emotional issue and both the Thackerays are coming together, it would be premature to conclude they would ally for the BMC polls.
“The MNS has always taken up the issue of Marathi. So, it is not new. Even for the Shiv Sena (UBT), this gives them a topic to latch on to for the BMC polls. But it doesn’t mean they are forming an alliance for the BMC polls. It needs to be seen how they carry forward the momentum, if at all. And even the BJP wouldn’t let this become a topic during the BMC elections,” Bal said.
BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhyay dismissed the rally as political posturing and questioned Uddhav Thackeray’s motives.
“This is a desperate attempt to reclaim their lost political space. They have nothing for the Marathi language,” Upadhyay told the media.
“I also want to ask Uddhav Thackeray that when he was the CM, he accepted the Mashelkar committee’s three-language recommendation, where Hindi was recommended as the third language. Why did he accept it then? This is not an issue at all. Why are you taking out a rally on a non-issue,” he added.
Maharashtra’s linguistic identity
The Maharashtra government came out with a government resolution (GR) early in June stating that state schools would implement the three-language policy from classes 1 to 4 in line with National Education Policy (NEP) recommendations.
The move caused an uproar with the opposition and language experts demanding a rollback of the policy, saying the decision would undermine Maharashtra’s linguistic identity.
The government then removed the word “mandatory” from the GR and said students could choose a third language but only if a group of 20 opted for it – otherwise, by default, they would have to learn Hindi.
This again did not go down well with the opposition, who accused the government of imposing Hindi on the state. The government then decided to hold a comprehensive presentation for all stakeholders, including educationists and linguists, before taking a final decision.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Raj Thackeray announced a rally on 6 July from Girgaon Chowpatty to Azad Maidan in south Mumbai against the imposition of Hindi and calling for the protection of the Marathi language.
While he was announcing this, separately, Uddhav Thackeray was meeting with a committee of activists headed by Deepak Pawar, chief of the Marathi Abhyas Kendra, on his plans for a rally on 7 July. Uddhav Thackeray gave his unconditional support to them, saying he would participate in the rally.
“While this was going on, we did not know about Raj Thackeray’s rally,” said Sanjay Raut.
“Once I got out of the meeting, Raj Thackeray called me and said that there is no point in having two separate rallies on the same issue. Instead, we should have one joint rally. To this, I conveyed it to Uddhav Thackeray. He immediately agreed but said that since 6 July is Ashadhi Ekadashi, a big festival in Maharashtra, there is no point in having a rally on the sixth. So either we do it on the seventh or the fifth,” Raut said.
Sandip Deshpande confirmed Raj’s call to Sanjay Raut and said that since 7 July was a Monday, many people would have a problem attending the rally. “Especially parents, teachers, so we decided to go on the fifth,” he said.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the MNS said that all political parties will be invited for this, including supporters of the Marathi language from the BJP and the Shinde Sena.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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