Joining of hands of Thackeray brothers in Maharashtra may boost Marathi identity

What about the relationship with national parties like Congress and NCP(SP)?

- BY SUSHIL KUTTY

Maharashtra is easy to roil. Wake up and get set on your mark. Sprint or marathon, hurdles or steeplechase, 'Hindi imposition' is readymade to start a quickfire row! It is also political vehicle for Raj Thackeray and his cousin Uddhav Thackeray, former Chief Minister who would like nothing better than another stint as Chief Minister.

But, of course, it's Raj Thackeray who is striving to be king maker, setting a "new course in Maharashtra politics" by weaponizing 'Marathi', something which is familiar turf? To some extent, the cousins succeeded, too. A set of government rules issued by the Devendra Fadnavis government on the three language policy, set the cat among the pigeons and gave the Thackeray duo an excuse.

The Shiv Sena has always been proactive in shouting "Marathi is in danger". Language chauvinism and language victimhood were staple for the unbroken Shiv Sena. Before Eknath Shinde, Raj Thackeray broke away to form the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. On a dark night, Raj Thackeray can scare the living daylights out of non-Marathi speakers.

There have been frequent MNS run-ins with the non-Marathi across the state. Speaking Hindi on Maharashtra's streets is fraught with untold risks. People are routinely slapped and it will take a Dawood Ibrahim to survive among the locals. Most "authorities" are just ain't equipped to uphold the law of the land, the Constitution.

So much so, the non-Marathi are oftentimes compelled to wonder if they're in India or in some other country. Raj Thackeray's goons make Don Corleone's "made guys" look tame and friendly by comparison. Uddhav Thackeray is a peacenik though he is politically more powerful than Raj Thackeray has been in 20 years!