MNS man to quit over English banner

Rajan Raje is contemplating quitting the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) over “difference of opinion”.

Rajan Raje is contemplating quitting the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) over “difference of opinion”.

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However, what seems to have triggered the decision was a dispute over five banners Raje had put up across the city exhorting people to save the planet on the occasion of World Earth Day in English.

“There was nothing offensive in the banner. Three party workers, including youth wing leader Avinash Jadhav, apparently had an issue with the banner being in English.

Unfortunately, Marathi is not a global language and being a Marathi lover doesn’t mean abstaining from using other languages,” said Raje, who had contested both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections from Thane on an MNS ticket.

He won neither.

Jadhav said he was not opposed to the banner.

However, the banner is not the main issue for Raje’s decision to quit MNS.

“I won’t quit the party for such a petty issue. There has been an ideological difference between me and the mainstream party. You join a party because you are attracted to the party’s agenda, but if the agenda is forgotten, there is no need of being with the party,” said Raje.

“I have been keeping distance from the party. If this incident had not taken place, I would have had a smooth exit from the party,” he said.