2019 Lok Sabha polls: Shiv Sena woos north Indians in Thane constituency

Ahead of next month’s Lok Sabha elections, the Shiv Sena is diluting its ‘sons-of-the-soil’ stance and attempting to warm up to the city’s north Indian, Gujarati, Marwari and Jain communities. In an attempt to strike a chord with the north Indian community, Yuva Sena chief and Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray addressed a gathering on eve of Holi and said the Sena could never oppose the Prime Minister, who “gets elected from Kashi (Varanasi)”.

The Sena, which has come up with anti-north Indian and anti-south Indian campaigns in the past, now intends to change its image and move towards a broader ideology of Hindutva. In November 2018, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray visited Ayodhya and reached out to north Indians to shake off its old image.

In a short speech on Wednesday evening in Mira Road, Aaditya Thackeray said he had come to seek “blessings” before the start of campaigning for the polls. “People cannot be divided into north Indians or south Indians. For me, everybody is an Indian and everybody is ours here. Therefore I’ve come here today. Many of you have spent more time in Maharashtra; speak better Marathi than I do. Then how can we differentiate. We are one,” Thackeray said at an event organised by Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik.

Sena, in the past, has contested elections on the pro-Marathi plank. However, the party has mellowed its stance and is now attempting to woo this section of voters too. Thackeray, while addressing the crowd in Marathi, added, “I was asked if I will speak in Hindi. I will speak in English, Hindi, Marathi or French because here language is not important, but what is said from the heart. We in Maharashtra speak Marathi; Uddhav ji spoke in Hindi in Ayodhya.”

Mira-Bhayander, which has a sizable north Indian, Gujarati and Marwari population, is part of the Thane Lok Sabha constituency that is held by Sena’s Rajan Vichare. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds the Mira- Bhayander Assembly seat. According to the 2011 census, Mira-Bhayander has over 68.96% Hindus and 5.67% Jains, apart from having a large chunk of north Indian migrants. Post an alliance with the BJP, the Sena is expected to gain these votes for its candidate in the Lok Sabha election. “I am proud of the fact that we consider each other as one; we will help each other out… I have not come here to make a political speech... I will only say that this colour (pointing to his saffron kurta), is what binds us, it is in our blood. We will not let it fade away,” Thackeray said.

Thackeray said the Sena would win all 23 seats that it is contesting. “The media asks us why we went for an alliance [with the BJP]. What we did is in front of everybody to see, but more importantly, how can we oppose the Prime Minister, who gets elected from Kashi (Varanasi)? How can we stand against him? We are standing by his side now,” he said.