Raj Thackeray is a loose cannon in Maharashtra politics. He has realised the power of being unpredictable. When he quit the Shiv Sena, he had promised inclusive politics, symbolised by the flag of his new party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which has blue, green and saffron and white strips. The very first rally he organised was huge, bursting with youthful energy. It must have sent shock waves in the Shiv Sena. Raj sent strong hints that he had decided to distance himself from the Shiv Sena way, and said that he had formed study groups and would actually work towards the “navnirman” of Maharashtra.

The liberal and non-Marathi press at the time was impressed. He became an instant media icon. He has retained that iconic status and, in fact, enlarged it, even though he has become a feared figure for non-Marathi, primarily Hindi-speaking, communities. What is significant, however, if not alarming, is the fact that even the Marathi elite has fallen under Thackeray’s thrall, with improbable champions like Shobhaa De, who told Vir Sanghvi at her book launch that the “Marathi Manoos” in Mumbai was feeling culturally claustrophobic because of the virtual invasion by “outsiders”. In this case, the “outsider” she meant was the Hindi-speaking north Indian who had invaded the social and cultural space of Mumbai, and was trying to capture the political space too. De implied that the uncouth northerners were subverting Maharashtrian decency.

It is necessary to keep this psychological canvas in mind to understand why the phenomenally large rally that Raj addressed in Mumbai on May 3 became not only the talk of the town, but also grabbed the country’s attention. Raj was careful in his speech. He categorically and repeatedly said that he was not against Bengalis, Punjabis, Gujaratis and others but only the Hindi-speaking communities, and that too because they were trying to usurp the political power of the metropolis and Maharashtra. He was smart and strategic enough to underline that his only aim was to protect the cultural identity of Maharashtra, and that he would not allow the Marathi language to be corrupted.

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