Ahead of civic polls, Eknath Shinde govt holds 1st global Marathi conference to woo ‘Marathi manus’
When it comes to garnering votes nothing comes to the time-tested plank of regionalism. Playing to the sentiments works like a charm, and if it is Maharashtra it works wonders. Years back Balasaheb Thackeray mobilized people with his call to ‘Marathi Manush’; years after he is gone Eknath Shinde and his breakaway faction of Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena are stepping into his shoes to woo the Maharashtra sentiment with his slightly different pitch to Marathi language and playing to the gallery by stoking the border dispute with Karnataka. He is of course backed by the BJP. Of late Eknath Shinde has been on the back foot as he could not stop the mega projects going out of the state and even the Governor playing a spoilsport by demeaning Marathi sentiment. To give his image a boost, Eknath Shinde inaugurated a first-of-its-kind international Marathi conference in Mumbai. The meeting saw leaders of his party taking the pledge to preserve Marathi in Maharashtra’s capital city. This is a big-ticket event from Shinde months ahead of the Mumbai civic polls.
It would have been just another conference in the PR building but it was Deepak Kesarkar, minister in charge of the Marathi language department who filled an entirely different colour to it. In his opening address, Kesarkar said, “The aim is that Mumbai is the capital of the Marathi language and the language should be preserved here. Today, our own children have started talking to us in Hindi. That needs to stop. We decided to have the event in Mumbai because Mumbai’s spirit is Marathi ...” In a sentence, he almost laid out the reason of the conference. The Minister forgot that he was talking about the national language Hindi which he thought was bad. Mumbai is a cosmopolitan city, it always was and every Maharashtrian is proud of it. The Marathi language is vibrant, not a dead language that needs to be restored. This could leads to yet another wave of anti-north sentiment. Taking the narrative forward, Eknath Shinde said the conference was a step forward towards the ideology of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, where ‘Marathi manus’ (Marathi-speaking population) was at the centre and should have a say in the system. He should not be driven out of Mumbai. The Marathi Manus pitch works in Mumbai, especially in civic polls. It would be interesting to note what the BJP, the nationalist party makes of the parochial pitch.
