MNS, BJP organise events on Hanuman Jayanti, Sena counters it with maha aartis

Sena MP Sanjay Raut, meanwhile, said there were intelligence inputs that attempts would be made to start communal riots in the state

Mumbai: In what could be called a display of their hardline Hindutva stance, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Shiv Sena on Saturday held mass prayer events at temples across the state on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti.

Thane, India - April 16, 2022: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers read Hanuman Chalisa on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti at Hanuman Temple, Teen Petrol Pump area, in Thane, Mumbai, India, on Saturday, April 16, 2022. (Praful Gangurde/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

While MNS organised prayers as a mark of protest against loudspeakers at mosques, the ruling Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) too organised events to prevent polarisation among voters.

Sena MP Sanjay Raut, meanwhile, said there were intelligence inputs that attempts would be made to start communal riots in the state.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray, who has recently switched to hardline Hindutva, performed a maha aarti at Lord Hanuman temple at Khalkar Chowk in Pune. Amid slogans hailing Lord Ram and Hanuman, Raj, who had donned a saffron shawl, performed puja at the temple.

Several BJP legislators and party leaders organised maha aarti and Hanuman Chalisa recital programmes in Mumbai and parts of Maharashtra. BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said, “The party did not hold any events but our leaders, legislators, and workers organised events on an individual capacity.”

BJP legislator Atul Bhatkhalkar said he carried out a ‘Shobha Yatra’ in his constituency Kandivli East. Similar events were held in Pune, Thane, Nashik and Pimpri Chinchwad, the Party spokesperson added.

Leader of the opposition in the assembly Devendra Fadnavis said those speaking against reciting Hanuman Chalisa were politicising the issue. “For centuries, Hanuman Chalisa has been a source of inspiration. Nobody should feel bad about it. Those who are commenting on it are merely politicising it.”

BJP functionary Mohit Kamboj distributed loudspeakers to temples ahead of Hanuman Jayanti. He said that he would distribute 10,000 loudspeakers to play Hanuman Chalisa, and appealed to housing societies in the city to play it in lifts and on loudspeakers. The party said he did this in his personal capacity.

Sena made a bid to counter the move. Dressed in a saffron kurta, party leader and state minister Aaditya Thackeray performed a maha aarti at a temple in Girgaon. Sena organised a maha aarti at a temple in Dadar too. Girgaon and Dadar are a traditional stronghold of Sena and have a large Marathi population - Sena’s traditional vote base. Raut visited Kalaram temple in Nashik and offered prayer.

The NCP organised a Hanuman aarti and Roza iftar on Saturday in Pune and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar attended the events.

Aaditya dismissed the allegation that the Sena organised maha aartis in Mumbai to counter MNS’s attempt to project itself as the new mascot of Hindutva. “We have been holding such aartis for years but some new parties have started this recently. With the pandemic receding, people have started celebrating festivals with much enthusiasm.”

Ruling party leaders have alleged that the riots in 10 states on the occasion of Ram Navami earlier this month was to polarise Hindu votes ahead of the crucial assembly polls in five states, including Delhi and Gujarat.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar earlier this week said attempts were being made to create an atmosphere that would disturb social harmony in Maharashtra. “An attempt is being made to nurture communal strife. Certain people in the state are deliberately stoking communal trouble and disturbing communal amity. I request people not to fall prey to such attempts.”

Raut on Saturday claimed there was a conspiracy to engineer communal riots in the state. Raut, without naming Raj, referred to him as neo-Hindu Owaisi and called him a “corrupt copy of Balasaheb Thackeray”.

“There is a plan to spark communal riots in Maharashtra through the neo-Hindu Owaisi and the real Owaisi. And after the riots, the Raj Bhavan would send a report to the Centre on the law and order to impose Presidents’ rule. Even if such a conspiracy is on in the state, people of Maharashtra will expose it,” he said.

Navneet Rana, an Independent MP from Amravati, and her legislator husband Ravi Rana - both of whom support BJP – challenged chief minister and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to recite Hanuman Chalisa and said if he failed to do it, they would recite it outside Matoshree. Following this, hundreds of Sena workers gathered outside the Thackeray residence in Bandra and raised slogans against BJP.

Sena leader and minister Anil Parab said, “They [the Ranas] are talking as per a script provided by someone else. The Rana couple does not have the stature to challenge Sena. We might be in power but we have not softened.”

Political analysts say Raj’s attempts to stoke communal tension are unlikely to win him votes.

Political analyst Surendra Jondhale said BJP was using Raj’s party to defeat Sena but playing the Hindutva card and polarising voters. He said people came to listen to the MNS chief but it did not translate into votes in elections.

“Sena has a strong organisational presence and BJP cannot beat it on the Marathi vote base. The communal polarisation in Mumbai will help BJP. Uddhav Thackeray had taken the risk to say that he still held the Hindutva agenda but added his style of Hindutva was different from BJP. Nobody is talking about development and local issues,” Jondhale, a former professor of political science at Mumbai University, said.

Raj, in an attempt to revive the political fortunes of his party, has adopted the Hindu hardline agenda. On April 2, at his Gudhi Padwa rally in Mumbai, he called upon his party workers to chant Hanuman Chalisa in front of mosques if the loudspeakers put up on them were not removed. The BJP had made a similar demand to the chief minister. After Raj’s speech, home minister Dilip Walse Patil cautioned political parties against creating communal tension to push their agenda. However, Raj went a step ahead at a rally in Thane on April 11 and appealed to the state to remove all loudspeakers at the mosques by May 3. As he faced criticism from the ruling coalition, BJP came out in his support.

The events organised on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti or on the day to celebrate birth of Lord Hanuman on Saturday assumed significance. It is also being seen as a test case of Hindutva campaign in Maharashtra.

Athawale slams Raj

Union minister Ramdas Athawale has come down hard on Raj Thackeray over his demand that loudspeakers be pulled down from mosques by May 3, asking him to refrain from making statements that promote communal hatred.

Athawale, a BJP ally, was in Kharghar on Saturday for a private programme. “No one should make statements that create controversy or take a stand that is against the Constitution. The Constitution has given freedom of speech to all and hence, we cannot shut anyone’s mouth. But when one speaks, one should be careful of what he is saying,” he said.

He said, “Loudspeakers have been on mosques traditionally for years. There is no need for anyone to act smart now. Raj Thackeray shouldn’t say wrong things and attempt to create communal tensions between two religions.”

(With inputs from G. Mohiuddin Jeddy)