Raj Thackeray Accuses BJP of Stirring Cultural Tension in Mumbai

MNS chief Raj Thackeray has slammed the BJP for allegedly using Chhath Puja to create communal discord in Mumbai. He claims the party is manipulating cultural events to secure votes in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Raj Thackeray Accuses BJP of Stirring Cultural Tension in Mumbai

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 13 (ANI): Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to create social and cultural tensions in Mumbai by using Chhath Puja as an issue and urged the public not to fall into their trap. He also alleged that the party was trying to provoke a conflict between Marathi and North Indian communities ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

In a post on X, Thackeray alleged that the BJP and the social media ecosystem it had nurtured were making every possible effort to create discord in Maharashtra by circulating reels related to Chhath Puja and what he described as cultural aggression in its name. He also referred to the playing of Bhojpuri songs at some railway stations in Mumbai, claiming that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had stopped it.

Thackeray further alleged that the BJP had attempted to create divisions among communities ahead of state elections and referred to the controversy surrounding Mumbai's Kabutarkhana, claiming that a Gujarati-versus-Marathi dispute was fuelled last year to win the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections.

Appealing to Marathi people not to get drawn into the conflict, Thackeray invoked the guerrilla warfare tactics of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, saying Maharashtra should not fight on a battlefield chosen by the BJP.