When you are born in a family that holds considerable political clout, it becomes difficult for you to carry their legacy forward. And you try really hard to be up to the mark.
Raj Thackeray is facing a similar situation. The nephew of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray wants to establish himself as a independent, firebrand leader and a true son of the Maharashtrian soil. That is why he quit his uncle’s party and formed his own radical Hindu outfit, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). And the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly election is his first real test.
So, a desperate Raj is doing all he can to pass the test with distinction. And he is going to any extent to stir the emotions of the people of Maharashtra. Be it the Bihari migration issue, or use of the term Bombay in Karan Johar’s latest flick, Raj is not ready to leave the battleground without putting up a decent fight. He has hijacked the Marathi manoos issue.
But what Raj is not realising is that such exasperated moves are not going to help him win the game. A Mumbaikar doesn’t care if he is called a Bambaiya or a Mumbaiite. Even for a Maharashtrian, a dialogue from a film is not going to change anything. What they need are real changes.
For a city battered by the deadly 26/11 attacks, what matters is that its borders are secure; for people who lost crores in the recent financial onslaught, they need stability; farmers of the Vidarbha region who lost their lives due to poor crop and scanty rainfall, need a continued source of livelihood and a secure future.
Instead of talking about these issues, Raj Thackeray is crying hoarse about non-issues. His not talking in English during an interview, or beating up a group of North Indians in Mumbai, are not going to help him in his political journey. Raj must remember – politics is not about naam ke wastey, it’s about kaam ke wastey!
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