MNS makes mark in Mumbai

When the arithmetic was complete,both major political combines found they had been dealt a big blow by the MNS in the sprawling urban hub of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region....

When the arithmetic was complete,both major political combines found they had been dealt a big blow by the MNS in the sprawling urban hub of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Comprising 60 seats,almost one-fifth of the states total,the region has a tremendous political significance,and the growth of the MNS in this belt has been at the cost of both,the Congress-NCP and the Shiv Sena-BJP.

The percentage of seats each combine won tells the story. In 2004,of 47 seats,the Congress-NCP won 24 or 51.06 per cent,while the Sena-BJP won 19,or 40.42 per cent. In 2009,with 60 seats in the region,the Congress-NCP won 26,or 43.3 per cent,a decline by seven percentage points. The Shiv Sena-BJP won 18,or 30 per cent,down 10 percentage points.

The MNS has won 8 seats in the MMR,a solid 13.33 per cent of the total.

Whats more,put together,the Sena-BJP and the MNS have won as many seats as the Congress-NCP,26. Clearly,the Marathi Manoos issue is working.

Political analyst Professor Venkatesh Kumar says one reason for the comparatively poor showing of the Congress-NCP in the Mumbai region is a series of wrong decisions taken by the Congress,including selection of non-Marathi candidates. Mumbais Mahrashtrians want candidates who are locals or who speak their tongue. The Congress,from Bandra to Borivali,selected mostly non-Marathi candidates, he said.

But he concedes the MNS has had an impressive showing in Mumbai. No other regional party in the recent past has made such an impact. The MNS has cleverly tapped the traditional Sena constituencies where voters felt ignored and they have moved out from the Sena towards the MNS, he said.

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But actor Atul Kulkarni,who has recently campaigned hard for people to get more active politically,feels the MNS will need to broadbase its politics if it wants to keep growing. To establish themselves they will soon have to deal with other issues,not just the Marathi people, he said. Mumbai is not Maharashtra. The issue of Marathi Manoos becomes much smaller when you move out of Mumbai.

Traditional Sena voter Chaitali Sawant,a Bhandup-based homemaker whose family has had generations of Sena activists,is among the many who have switched parties. When Raj Thackeray took up the matter of Marathi signboards,all of Mumbai changed signs. Suddenly there are a lot of people speaking in Marathi and the Hindi-speaking people are not that hostile, she said.

Theatre activist Sunil Shanbaug agrees that the MNS has exploited the Maharashtrians insecurities. The average Marathi Manoos wants to be more cosmopolitan but there are a lot of insecurities,especially among the lower middle class. The MNS is exploiting these insecurities and has been partly successful, he said. MNS in a way is an alternative that people are turning to.