All political parties in Maharashtra, including the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar, get their activists from this same lumpen class. Indeed this class migrates from the SS to NCP to MNS or to the RPI. Since this vast vote bank has no direction, the MNS also cannot have real direction, and it becomes a loose cannon. The government of Maharashtra cannot act against Raj, because the Congress and the NCP then will be seen as opposing this Marathi youth, which they cannot electorally afford. Moreover, this neo-lumpen youth is kith and kin of the new well-off middle class, the accidental beneficiary of the new economy. As a result, there is disequilibrium within the upper-middle class too, which explains its fascination with Raj. The Raj phenomenon has generated a support base across the class and rural-urban divide. He has also cleverly kept himself away from rhetoric that can legally trap him.

He knows that his uncle has got away with murder, almost literally. Raj has refrained from attacking Muslims. His uncle, Balasaheb Thackeray, on the other hand has used abusive and violent language against Muslims, often loudly hinting that they are anti-nationals. Recently, at a function organised for a launch of his grandson’s musical CD (Uddhav’s son Aditya), Balasaheb addressed the gathering by saying “my patriotic Hindu brothers and sisters”, ignoring the sentiments of the Muslim artists in the crowd. Amitabh Bachchan was present but did not object. Incidentally, Raj began to attack Amitabh after that function, which cannot be a coincidence. The Bachchan family has thrown its prestige behind Balasaheb and Uddhav. It was inevitable that Raj attacked Amitabh, for easy publicity and notoriety. He also attacked Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh’s protégé in Mumbai, Abu Azmi, which effectively put Raj on the national media map.

... contd.