Now, Raj Thackeray asks all banks to use Marathi for transactions

Thackeray reiterated that he would intensify his crackdown against illegal hawkers

After the Railways, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has now trained his guns on banks. He now wants them to conduct their transactions in Marathi.

Raj Thackeray addresses a rally in Thane on Saturday. (Praful Gangurde)

Addressing a rally in Thane on Saturday, Thackeray reiterated that he would intensify his crackdown against illegal hawkers. He criticised banks for ignoring the Marathi language despite guidelines from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on using the local language. “From tomorrow, our workers will go to banks and check if transactions are being done in Marathi. If not, we will force them to do so. We are not breaking any law but just enforcing RBI’s guidelines,” said Thackeray.

He recently initiated a drive against hawkers after the Elphinstone Road station stampede in September to revive his party’s fortunes after his party was beaten in the local elections.

He alleged that government officials and politicians were hobnobbing with hawkers. “Every year, a minimum Rs 2,000 crore is given as bribe to government officials and political parties. Therefore they are more concerned about hawkers rather than lakhs of commuters,” the MNS chief said.

He said Indian Muslims residing for more than 50 years in the state have never caused any riot.

In his last address to party workers held in the first week November, he had praised Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar for his foresight to keep enemies at bay.

Thackeray said the Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway, a pet project of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, would be welcomed if it benefitted the state. “But it should not be a ploy to form a separate state,” he cautioned.

“Shivaji had his roots in Vidarbha. If the state builds the expressway for progress of Vidarbha and separates it from Maharashtra, we will destroy the road,” Thackeray said.

On the Gujarat elections, Thackeray said Patidar community leader Hardik Patel is entitled to his privacy and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should respect that. “The MNS had published a blue print during the Maharashtra assembly elections, while BJP has published a blue film to win Gujarat assembly elections. Hardik Patel is entitled to his privacy and the BJP should refrain from playing peeping Toms,” the MNS chief said, adding the BJP calls Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi ’Pappu’ but are scared of him as the entire team of senior BJP leaders was stationed in Gujarat to defeat him.

He urged people to maintain communal harmony and brotherhood.

“For years Marathi, Jain and Gujarati communities have stayed together. No one was offended by the smell of meat. However, suddenly in the last three-four years, the smell is intolerable. The government is trying to create disharmony between the communities. The Marathi community has also started talking about caste as the government has also created a rift between various groups. The division of Maharashtra will only benefit Gujaratis and other communities,” he said.