Raging against Raj

After two years of trying to wish away this eventuality, the Maharashtra government is finally facing the inevitable--arresting Raj Thackeray. Cops from Jharkhand are in Mumbai with a non-bailable warrant against Raj for one of his speeches against Biharis. The government is making all the right noises about the need to "tame" Raj and his MNS men.

Raj, on the other hand, dared the government yesterday to arrest him, warning that "Maharashtra will burn" if it does.

This is a nightmare that no politician wants to face. The groundswell of support that Raj has garnered with his "Marathi first" ideology and his continued diatribes against the Hindi-speaking migrants to the state has been worrying the ruling Congress party anyway. If it arrests Raj now, it plays into his hands by being perceived as anti-Marathi. So, will CM Vilasrao Deshmukh bite the bullet and let Raj be arrested? It's anybody's guess.

For anyone who has attended any of Raj's sabhas, it is obvious that he has studiedly taken over from his ailing uncle, Bal Thackeray. He looks the same as when Bal Thackeray was his age, speaks the same and evokes the same kind of response from his audience, maybe stronger than what his uncle could manage.

But, this is not to say that this is due to his oratory skills or his charisma.

Over the last 20 years, Bal Thackeray's Shiv Sena toned down the criticism of migrants and even included some north-Indians as its office-bearers and has moved more and more from the right to the centre. Blinded with putra-prem, Thackeray Senior also did a Dhrutarashtra when he chose to appoint his own son as his successor to lead the Sena, ignoring the more suitable Raj.

When Raj first formed his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, he was written off as yet another disgruntled Sena leader leaving the party to form his own outfit. No one paid much attention to him for some time, while he carefully thought out his strategy to reclaim what he thought was rightfully his. And no one was ready for what he unleashed.

A wave of repressed Marathi anger--against the swathes of UP and Bihari migrants who have invaded Maharashtra over the last few years--hit the state after a fiery speech by Raj at Shivaji Park in Mumbai last year.

This was followed up by agitations against allotment of college seats to north-Indians who could pay hefty donations, at the cost of local students. Then came the issue of signboards in Marathi. Once again, Raj and his men followed up and enforced a law that was created by the government itself.

Now, it is about the jobs. Raj has taken up cudgels against the Bihari and UP students who come to Maharashtra to appear for recruitment examinations for the Indian Railways, while Maharashtrians are not even aware of these jobs. The Railways are, of course, under Laloo Yadav's administration and hence Biharis are being favoured, says Raj.

These are not new issues. All these have been raised by most political parties in Maharasthra at one time or another, especially the Shiv Sena. However, the way Raj has run away with the ball has all these parties worried, if not scared.

Also, the Sena was always Mumbai-focussed. Raj has made it more comprehensive by including all of Maharashtra, and people all over the state have responded since the problems with north Indian migrants have been affecting them for years and they did not have anyone raising their issues.

If he were to be arrested, it could only increase mass support for him and anger against the government. Something the government could ill-afford with the state elections just round the corner.

When it comes to reining in Raj, for the ruling Congress-NCP combine it is a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't.