It is nauseating to see Shiv Sena ('Thakrey party' henceforth!) spewing venom in the name of Marathi manoos again. I always been wary of this so called ideology. I am not from Mumbai, though I am as Marathi as one can get, this Marathi manoos philosophy gets hollower as you move away from Mumbai. And by the time you hit Nagpur - which is the second capital of Maharashtra, this Marathi Manoos thing is nothing but a drum that's already broken. But fortunately, this issue has lived its life and heading towards a quiet exit. That's because this political outfit isn't going to last long!
I am extremely proud of Marathi language, Marathi history, Marathi culture and everything Marathi. I am privileged to be born in Marathi land, Marathi house and to Marathi family. It must have been punya-karma of my last birth that my mother tongue is Marathi and I thank my parents that they put me in Marathi 'medium' for my education. I know history of Maratha empire by heart, by dates, by battles fought, by battles won and lost. I can recite the poem on Shivaji Maharaj by Kavi Bhushan
"साजि चतुरंग सैन अंग में उमंग धरि
सरजा सिवाजी जंग जीतन चलत है"
And this is where this political 'ideology' is lost to me. You see, Kavi Bhushan was not a Marathi. In fact, if to go with the typical slur by Thakrey party then he was a 'Bhaiyya'. Now, what do we have to say about him in current circumstances? Do we kick him out of Maharashtra? Call him names? Tell world that he is taking jobs of Marathi poet? Even though he wrote his poems exalting greatness of Shivaji Maharaj in Braj-bhasha in current political situation, he will be kicked out for being a bhaiyya and for using non-Marathi language to talk about great Shivaji!
The ideology or the confidence should be strong enough to assimilate and make non-Marathis into strong Marathis. Alas, that's a lot of work and who has time for that?
Thakrey party is a reactionary force, brought to birth with congress moneybags and meant only to keep commies at bay. To that objective, they have succeeded. At one point MH cultural and literary life had strong odor of communism and that stench could really have spread into political arena. Fortunately it did not since whatever small political space left by Congress was slowly taken over by Thakrey's.
But the objective that was met, was of Congress's. Not of this so called Hindutva leaning party or ideology. In fact, Thakrey's party barely posed any serious political challenge to Congress. Even after Congress split right in the middle with formation of NCP. The seats that Thakrey's party won in 1995 when they formed first non-Congress state government in MH with the help of BJP - their highest, was in late 60s. Guess the number of seats they won in 2019 elections - late 50s.
In today's world, Thakrey's party's stance was only to gain power. Nothing else. They attempted to create besieged feeling among Marathi masses to carve out political space. But that was very much limited to Mumbai and its immediate surroundings. Beyond that geography, the Marathi manoos talk never carried any weight or meaning. For that, they relied on Hindutva ideology. They were firebrand for sure, but again, it was only to serve their political purposes. MH is a fairly right-wing leaning state. Shivaji Maharaj still rules the hearts of masses, so even sonia's secularism infested Congress is decidedly Hindutva leaning. With anti non-Marathi stance and organizationally weak outside of MH to gain from their Hindutva brand means Thakrey's party not only remained a decidedly regional party but they largly remained a local, Mumbai area-centric outfit.
Thakrey's party and their thinking heads believe that harping on Marathi Manoos and creating controversy by beating this dead horse will help them survive. Not sure if this political maneuvering makes any sense. It never gave them life to begin with, so, for that reactionary political plank to pay any dividend now is nothing but delusional. The proverbial Marathi manoos that Thakrey's party supposedly stood for has moved on long time ago. The results of last Bruhan Mumbai Municipal Elections (BMC) are a clear indication that this Marathi manoos now identifies itself more with a 'Gujju bhai' lead BJP. The voting share of Thakrey party in non-Mumbai areas of MH has at best remained stagnant and worse, have been completely devoured by BJP lead by Devendra Fadnavis's governance oriented personality.
Another fun fact - despite Congress's massive reversals in political fortunes, the vote share of Thakrey party in 2019 MH assembly elections is barely a percentage more than Congress party!
This brings me to Rhea Chakraborty saga. There is no evidence of any connection between her and Thakrey party. At least, there should not be. But there is some life to this conjuncture. Otherwise, why would Tharkey's unofficial spokesperson and their mouthpiece has taken extraordinary steps to either divert the attention of the media and public away from this saga involving Rhea? And when it is apparent it is not working, why are they going ludicrous extent to somehow connect this to Mumbai pride and Marathi manoos?
This is because, Thakrey party and Rhea are not that different. Talent less, morally bankrupt, and full of shady dealings. Somehow them being connected through either Sushant Singh Rajput's death or through money laundering or through drugs makes perfect sense.
In any case, all this will quiet down post Bihar election and most importantly, post fall of Thakrey party MH government. People will move on and the sordid saga involving Rhea will be relegated to last pages of the news paper. And, this party of Thakrey's will join the long list of reactionary regional political outfit that ran the due course and went down without a bloop!
