Marathi vs ‘outsiders’: Uddhav Sena, MNS pitch Mumbai civic polls as identity battle

Mumbai: Civic elections are usually fought on the issue of services or lack of it. However, in Mumbai, political parties are trying to polarise the electorate and it is a battle of Hindus versus Muslims, Maharashtrians versus North Indians and Gujaratis.

Elections for the Mumbai civic polls saw the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) Sena and its electoral ally the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) target the North Indian and Gujarati community to consolidate the Marathi community votes in its favour.

The latest flash point has been a remark by BJP leader Kripashankar Singh. A few days ago, Singh had said that efforts would be made to make a person belonging to the North Indian community as mayor of the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation. While Mira-Bhayandar is on the outskirts of Mumbai, the UBT Sena and MNS have caught on to the remark and said this was an example of the BJP's design and it would do the same for Mumbai.


"The BJP does not want to have a son of soil (Marathi) person as mayor of Mumbai. The BJP wants a non-Marathi speaking person as the mayor in Mumbai and elsewhere. Since Marathi votes are being consolidated in our favour, they got Singh to say this to ensure that they want the North Indian community to vote against us and the MNS," said Sanjay Raut of UBT Sena.

The UBT Sena's strategy is simple with the party getting minority votes after aligning with the Congress in the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government. The party feels that a consolidation of Marathi votes along with Muslim votes could give it an edge over the BJP-Shiv Sena.

Keen to ensure that the Marathi community votes en bloc for them, Uddhav Thackeray recently reminded people of the BJP's campaign slogan of 'Batenge toh Katenge' during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. "Marathi-speaking people should remember this slogan. If you get divided (votes get divided), then you will get weakened." The message being conveyed by the UBT Sena and constantly being echoed by the MNS is that Maharashtrians will get marginalised in Mumbai.

The BJP and Shiv Sena have tried to counter the campaign by saying that they too want the next mayor from the Marathi community. The two parties are also accusing the UBT Sena of appeasing the Muslim community. A few days back, when Abdul Rashid Khan, a former Congress mayor of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar joined the UBT Sena, Ameet Satam, Mumbai BJP President slammed Uddhav saying that Khan's entry was a sign that the UBT Sena was appeasing the minority community. "They (Uddhav) have no problems aligning with people who shout Pakistan Zindabad."

The BJP has also brought back its 'Batenge toh katenge' campaign with this slogan appearing on posters in a few places in the city. The BJP's strategy is to evoke Hindutva and make inroads into the Marathi vote bank. A controversial study by a public university that allegedly claimed in its report that the Muslim population in Mumbai could reach 30% by 2051 is being pushed across social media by right wing handles and supporters of the two parties.