MNS vs Sena: High drama on the cards

While MNS chief Raj Thackeray will address the rally at Aurangabad, leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis will hold a ‘booster dose’ at Somaiya ground in Mumbai

Mumbai The state is set to witness hectic political drama over the hardline Hindutva plank adopted by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the rally and the counter rally organised as part of the 62nd state Foundation day on May 1.

Meanwhile, a number of personalities from Marathi literature, theatre and social circles have taken initiative to stage silent demonstrations against attempts to communalise the atmosphere in the state as well (HT Photo)

While MNS chief Raj Thackeray will address the rally at Aurangabad, leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis will hold a ‘booster dose’ at Somaiya ground in Mumbai. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will speak in a virtual conference organised by the Marathi daily Loksatta on Sunday afternoon, while Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief and Dr BR Ambedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar has announced to stage peace marches across the state in the protest of attempts to communalise the state.

Meanwhile, a number of personalities from Marathi literature, theatre and social circles have taken initiative to stage silent demonstrations against attempts to communalise the atmosphere in the state as well. Activist Tushar Gandhi, actor-director Amol Palekar and some others have appealed to the people to stage the silent demonstration near the statue of King Shivaji Maharaj from 9 am to 10 am. If not possible, then people can post their videos online, they ve appealed.

Raj, who got the permission for his rally with several riders, is expected to continue to strike the Hindutva card on May 1. The BJP, which has been supportive of his stand, has been towing the hardcore Hindutva line empathetically.

Fadnavis is expected to go all out against Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi, especially the Shiv Sena, by targeting their former ally over alleged corruption cases in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Party’s Mumbai unit has been holding “pol khol” campaigns in various municipal wards attacking the alleged corruption in BMC, which is under Sena for the last 25 years.

Ahead of the elections to the civic body, the BJP has been targeting Sena in its bid to wrest the power in one of the richest civic bodies in the country. The party is also expected to target MVA over law and order, action against BJP leaders, loadshedding among other issues.

The BJP released a teaser for the ‘booster rally’, aimed at charging up the booth-level party workers ahead of the polls. The teaser hints at attacks on Shiv Sena over corruption and also plans to dislodge Sena’s claim that the action against their leaders by central agency is an attack on the pride of the state. “The striking speech by Fadnavis will prove to be the booster dose for our booth level workers who are backbone in the election system,” said party leader and former Mumbai unit chief of the party Ashish Shelar.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray , on the other hand, has been vociferously slamming opposition over their attempt to polarise the vote bank in the name of Hindutva. He is expected to take a dig at them again on Sunday at the Loksatta conference.

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, who played a key role in bringing three parties together to form the MVA government, hit out at the MNS chief on Saturday. Without naming Raj, Pawar said that a few leaders have been trying to create rifts within society in the name of the religion. “This has been creating communal tension and pushing the nation backward by a few years. This is nothing but an attempt to divert the attention of the people from the key issues of unemployment, inflation and social justice,” he said.

Rekha Thakur, state chief of VBA, said, “Raj Thackeray has been giving instigating speeches with the intent of creating communal tension and the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government is tacitly supporting it. We are holding peace marches across the state in each of the tehsil to maintain communal harmony.”

In the backdrop of the provocative statements, the police force has been directed to be on their toes. The home department of the state is wary of potential communal tension and disturbances in the wake of attempts to revive the hardline Hindu vote bank.

“There have been attempts to create communal tension to polarise voters by invoking religious sentiment in the last few months. The police have been directed to be on alert,” said an official from the home department.

Political analyst Hemant Desai said, “May 1 is celebrated to showcase solidarity and respect to the labour class, but unfortunately the political parties are using it to pitch their agenda. The stand taken by Raj Thackeray and his provocative jibes are uncalled for. The teaser launched for the May 1 rally released by the MNS has a loaded message to ‘be ready’. This is an attempt to disturb the social fabric, even though there was no trigger for it in the recent past. It is laudable that the the Muslim community has taken amicable stand over use of loudspeakers on mosques.”