Mumbai: The Shiv Sena may have launched an extensive campaign for Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray, who is contesting from Worli, with posters in different Indian languages, but the exercise has left several people questioning the nativist party’s commitment to the Marathi language.
After Aaditya’s candidature was officially announced, Sena, in an obvious bid to woo voters from all communities, put up posters in Worli with greetings in different Indian languages. Contrary to the image of Sena, which has always stood for the rights of Marathi speakers and vouched for the ‘sons of the soil’, the posters feature photographs of Aaditya asking “How are you, Worli” in several languages, including Gujarati and Telugu.
Incidentally, it was posters in Gujarati, captioned ‘Kem Cho Worli’ that evoked the ire of the netizens. “By putting up such posters, you may get 100 Gujarati votes, but lakhs of Marathi people have been hurt. They will not pardon you,” said a person on social media.
“This is what happens when you don’t believe in the Marathi people in Mumbai…” said another. “The grandfather formed the party for the cause of Marathi identity and his grandson is putting up posters in Gujarati,” said one more, referring to party founder Balasaheb Thackeray.
However, Shiv Sena supporters were seen defending the posters, saying that they have been put up in other languages like English, Tamil, Urdu too, and not just in Gujarati.
The Sena has decided to field the Thackeray scion from Worli, as it is considered to be its safe bastion. In the 2014 Vidhan Sabha polls too, Sena MLA Sunil Shinde had defeated Sachin Ahir, then with the NCP, by 23,000 votes. Mr Shinde has vacated his place for Aaditya, making the latter’s win almost a certainty.
