Marathi-guj divide flares up in Ghatkopar
MUMBAI: Controversy erupted after the Shiv Sena (UBT) claimed that Gujarati-dominated housing societies in Ghatkopar denied entry to its workers who were campaigning for the party’s Mumbai North East candidate Sanjay Dina Patil. The party has resolved to continue campaigning in societies where the Gujarati community holds sway. “We will go there,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut. “Marathis cannot be stopped.”
One of the two alleged incidents occurred when Patil’s supporters went to campaign at a housing society near Maneklal Estate in Ghatkopar West. “Our team of Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP workers went to the building, and some persons objected,” said Patil. “They called us ghatis (a pejorative word for Marathi-speaking people).” Patil added that their fight was not with Gujaratis but “people like these who are incited by the BJP”.
The team was finally allowed in after the police intervened. Patil later said the issue had been sorted, and the same societies had called his team back two days later.
Another Shiv Sena (UBT) activist, Prakash Wani, narrated a similar episode. “On Saturday, I was stopped by Gujarati women who refused to let us enter their society, as they were Narendra Modi supporters,” he alleged. “Later, one of the residents came and took us in.”
In another case, five Maharashtrian residents of a housing society in Pant Nagar, Ghatkopar East, invited Patil for a meeting. “We are a society with 126 flats, and we felt that Patil’s voice should also be heard and hence invited him,” said one of the residents. “But some Gujarati members of our society did not like this.”
When questioned about the Patil episode, BJP functionary Bhalchandra Shirsat claimed that the Ghatkopar society’s security personnel were merely objecting to letting in 25-30 persons simultaneously. “Even BJP workers went to the society but in a much smaller group,” he said. “The Shiv Sena (UBT) is just creating issues where there are none.”
Sources in the Shiv Sena said that the Mumbai North East BJP candidate, Mihir Kotecha, also faced the Gujarati-marathi divide, leading CM Eknath Shinde to hold a joint meeting with BJP and Shiv Sena workers. Earlier, the Shiv Sena had boycotted a meeting held by Kotecha because there were no photos of party founder Bal Thackeray at the venue. Kotecha has now been advised by the BJP’S Mumbai unit to have a portrait of Thackeray at every meeting.
The Marathi and Gujarati communities co-existed amicably in Ghatkopar till the 1950s, when areas like Pant Nagar were mainly marshy lands. Only some areas around the Ghatkopar railway station, like Rajawadi and parts of Ghatkopar West, existed. Then, in the 1960s, after MHADA began developing Ghatkopar East, the Gujarati population increased. This led to an increasing number of altercations between the two communities, mostly over dietary preferences.
When Hindustan Times had on April 29 questioned Kotecha
“Our team went to the building, and some persons objected. They called us ‘ghatis’. SANJAY DINA PATIL, Mumbai North East candidate for Shiv Sena (UBT)
on the Marathi-gujarati divide in his constituency, he had denied there was any such thing. “Since some members of my team raised this concern, I asked my team to conduct doorto-door surveys, and we found there was no division of votes between Marathis and Gujaratis,” he said. “Since the opposition doesn’t have any points to score against me, they are brainwashing voters.”
Kotecha reiterated this when asked about the Patil episode and other instances of rejection in Gujarati-dominated buildings. “This whole thing is being created by the Shiv Sena (UBT) as it has no issues left,” he said.