Permit Raj

To understand the Raj Thackeray effect,do not get a measure of his presence in Maharashtra’s politics by taking stock of the number of votes his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena gets. It cannot be done by simply analysing the recent Lok Sabha elections,where he ate into the Shiv Sena vote-share and helped the NCP-Congress combine win in several Mumbai constituencies. To understand the danger he poses to Maharashtra politics,one must track his pet campaigns and see how the other political parties,the stakeholders,offer no counter-narrative and even dovetail their own campaigns to the MNS’s. So now,soon after the MNS called for a “permit system” to check the flow of migrants into Mumbai,the Shiv Sena-BJP has promised to introduce “measures” to check the flow of outsiders into the city. And,just two weeks before the state goes to the polls,the NCP-Congress is maintaining silence on this issue.

Article 19(1) of the Indian Constitution guarantees the fundamental right “to move freely throughout the territory of India” and “to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India”. This right to migrate and work anywhere within our national boundaries is at the heart of the idea of India; it defines who we are. Not only is any such “permit” raj unlikely to stand scrutiny in a court of law,but it also goes against everything that made Mumbai great. Mumbai has always thrived on the entrepreneurial energies of outsiders who make this megapolis their own and energise it with new ideas and ways. It is not just that the Sena-BJP misunderstand precisely what makes Mumbai great. It is also that the rhetoric around the electoral promise makes the campaign fertile for a very dangerous and competitive parochialism.

Or do they understand it too well? For,come October 13,the battle for Maharashtra will be fought by a range of players,including the four major ones. Even after seat-sharing alliances,fractured vote bases mean that small,fringe groups can play decisive roles. Whip up an emotive frenzy amongst them,and their energies may be just enough to nudge you first past the poll — or at any rate win some electoral brownie points. The MNS’s outlandish rhetoric rests on precisely such logic. Unfortunately,this logic is also finding appeal amongst its competitors.