Mind your language: Shiv Sena goes English

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena — a party known for its strong Marathi connect and support — is showing signs of having become at least somewhat anglicised. The party has decided to use ‘Did You Know’ as its tagline for the upcoming civic elections, which is a complete departure from the Marathi tagline, Karu Dakhawla, it used last time around. The person behind this makeover is Aaditya Thackeray, who is excellent in written and spoken English.

The young Sena scion’s correspondence to the party and social media is always in English, unlike in the case of his father (Uddhav) and uncle (Raj), who speak only in Marathi. An English-medium school student, he came up with the line ‘Did You Know’ along with his team.

The Sena has said in its defence about the new tagline that 80 per cent of the total voters for the elections are youngsters who are well versed with the English phrase. The English line has been used even on Marathi banners. A party leader associated with the election campaign’s planning said, “We have it all planned. One constituency for the BMC elections consists of around 55,000 voters, of which around 35 per cent vote, most of who are youngsters. That is who we are targeting with the new tagline.”

The party’s reasoning is that its traditional vote base remains with the Sena, immaterial of how things are, and whether they campaign or not. “The target is to get the young voters, who have adopted the Internet and social media. The hashtag ‘Did You Know’ is already famous on the web and we are cashing in on it,” said the leader.

A Shiv Sena poster with the ‘Did You Know’ hashtag.

Aaditya, a student of St Xavier’s College, holds a degree in History and has also completed his LLB, and has of late been handling the party’s youth wing, Yuva Sena. “The older generation allied with the Sena are attracted to the party because of its ideology and the Marathi-speaking Uddhav Thackeray. But things had to be changed for the youth and Aaditya, with his spoken English, managed to strike a chord,” said a leader.

Aaditya normally speaks in Marathi and Hindi during rallies, but on social media like Facebook and Twitter, his posts and tweets are mostly in English. Even the people who surround him — like his cousin Varun Sardesai, who studied in a foreign university — are mostly well versed in English.