'Last election for Marathi manoos': Raj Thackeray sharpens attack on North Indians ahead of BMC polls

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray. (File: PTI)

• Raj Thackeray urges voters to unite for Marathi identity in BMC elections
• He warns migration from North India threatens jobs, land, and Marathi culture
• MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT) form alliance to safeguard Marathi interests in Mumbai

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Stepping up his campaign ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday reignited the emotive issue of migration from North India as he sought to frame the civic polls as a decisive battle for the future of the "Marathi manoos".

Addressing party workers, Thackeray warned that large-scale migration from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar was threatening Maharashtra's linguistic identity, economic opportunities and political power, particularly in Mumbai.

"I don’t hate the language, but if you try to impose it, I will kick you. They’'re coming from all sides to Maharashtra and snatching away your share. If land and language are gone, you will be finished. Today, this crisis has arrived at your doorstep," Thackeray said.

Clarifying that his opposition was not to Hindi as a language but to what he described as its forced imposition, the MNS chief linked the issue to jobs, land ownership and representation in the city.

He argued that unchecked migration was steadily shrinking the space available for locals and warned that the loss of control over land and language would eventually marginalise the Marathi community.

Calling the January 15 BMC elections a turning point, Thackeray described them as the "last election for the Marathi man" and urged voters to unite on the plank of Marathi identity and Maharashtra's future.

Invoking Mumbai's history, he said the city was built through the sacrifices of locals and questioned how those sacrifices would be honoured if Marathi-speaking people lost control over civic institutions.

Thackeray also issued organisational directions to party workers, asking booth-level agents to remain alert on polling day and ensure there were no irregularities during voting.

The sharp rhetoric comes amid renewed political mobilisation around identity issues in the run-up to the high-stakes BMC polls, a crucial contest for control over India's richest civic body.

Earlier, Thackeray had expanded his attack to the BJP, alleging that forces seeking to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra were currently in power at both the Centre and the state. He warned that if such forces gained control over municipal corporations, Marathi-speaking residents would be pushed to the margins of political power.

In a recent joint interview with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, published in Saamana, Raj Thackeray said their coming together was not driven by personal political survival but by the need to safeguard the future of the Marathi manoos.

The interview, conducted by Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut and filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar, followed the announcement last month of an alliance between the MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT) for the BMC elections.

During the interview, Raj Thackeray also claimed that migration into Maharashtra was no longer limited to people seeking livelihoods, alleging that migrants were now emerging as organised political constituencies, a trend he said posed long-term challenges to local representation and identity.