North Indians living in Mumbai for generations are Mumbaikars: Devendra Fadnavis

Devendra Fadnavis was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of a guest house in Uttar Bharatiya Sangh for the cancer patients’ relatives and pilgrims.

Mumbai: In a bid to woo north Indian voters ahead of the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said that people from the community who have been living in Mumbai for the last three to four generations are now Mumbaikars. He said that such north Indians have now adopted Maharashtrian culture.

North Indians amount to a substantial number of votes in Mumbai and are regarded as the second largest group after Maharashtrians. (HT PHOTO)

Fadnavis was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of a guest house in Uttar Bharatiya Sangh for the cancer patients’ relatives and pilgrims. Fadnavis inaugurated the newly constructed Babu RN Singh Guest House, situated at Uttar Bharatiya Sangh (UBS) Bhavan in Bandra East.

“Many north Indians have lived in Mumbai for the last three-four generations so they are now Mumbaikars. While they have preserved the north Indian culture, they have also adopted the culture of Maharashtra,” Fadnavis said.

North Indians amount to a substantial number of votes in Mumbai and are regarded as the second largest group after Maharashtrians. According to rough estimates, of the total 236 seats, north Indian voters can play the swing factor in around 40-50 seats in suburban Mumbai. Congress party and BJP tend to reach out to the north Indian community ahead of crucial elections.

Speaking at another event in Mumbai, Fadnavis said that “pseudo-secular” leaders such as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee started visiting temples after prime minister Narendra Modi came to power. Fadnavis also added that research has shown that the DNA of Indians was the same, leading to the conclusion that we have a common parentage. The DNA discovery, he said, also ended the theory of the caste system.

Speaking about the Hindu religion and its birth, Fadnavis said, “The haplogroup (DNA) of every Indian is one. The haplogroup R1A1A is common. Whether it was a tribal from Andaman or a Brahmin from Bengal or a Dalit from Uttar Pradesh, the DNA is one, so we have a common lineage... The DNA discovery had ended the theory that there were Aryan and Dravidians. Similarly, the DNA ended the caste system which said that one person is from low caste by birth and other person is from the upper caste,” he said.

Fadnavis said that earlier political leaders were afraid of being seen visiting temples as it would impact their “secular vote bank.” “Years ago, we saw that political leaders were ashamed to go to temples. These leaders visited temples when cameras were not around; late at night or early morning. They feared that if they visited temples it would impact their secular vote bank,” he said.

The former Maharashtra CM further added, “But the scenario changed after prime minister [Narendra Modi] came to power. When the PM got blessings after visiting temples, Rahul [Gandhi] ji started visiting temples, [Arvind] Kejriwal ji started reciting Hanuman Chalisa, Mamata didi [Banerjee] started doing Chandi Path. The pseudo-secular leaders accepted that there was nothing wrong in practising your religion.”