It was the most expected moment of 2006 when Raj Thackeray, the young turk announced the formation of a new political party the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) yesterday at a grand rally in Shivaji Park, Dadar. The flag of the party was unveiled much earlier – that of green, saffron and blue stripes and what most believe depicts the 3 communal fronts of Muslims, Hindus and the Dalits. The message was loud and clear. He’s taken a great leap by breaking away from his uncle’s agenda of appeasing the hindus and fighting for hindutva by embracing the 3 together.
I admire Raj more for his cartooning calibre than his political. He’s a commercial artist like I am from the JJ School of Art. I was once a spectator at his art exhibition in the year 2000 called ‘Chehere Mohere’ (marathi) where he had shown his prowess with the pencil. The 38 year old has got charisma no doubt and he’s one of the few maharashtrian mass leaders which the Sena would have liked to stay behind. The MNS according to Raj will fight for the ‘sons of the soil’ and will practice the politics of development. The party promised to stay away from vote bank politics and instead be a modern, secular party.
I am happy for one reason that Mumbai has now got a leader and party of its own. Atleast we have a hope of something substantial happening in developing this island into a world class city. I hope Raj does not disappoint me.
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Mumbaikars (natives of Mumbai city) are well aware of the hardships which they face everyday. To name some of the few – train travels, bad roads, polluted water supplies, growing slums, etc. Just recently I had an argument with a friend who has come down from Delhi to work with us and he was unapologetically critical about this city. The fact of the matter is that I know what plagues us and I know that the solution lies entirely in the hands of the administration which is not focusing on the city right now. I lost my temper and hit back with strong words on this.
I guess you must be all aware of