Lok Sabha elections 2024: Marathi-Gujarati war heats up in Ghatkopar

Tensions between Marathis and Gujaratis escalated on Sunday when a Ghatkopar society, reportedly dominated by Gujaratis, barred Shiv Sena (UBT) members from distributing election campaign material. This incident unfolded amidst the ongoing Lok Sabha election campaigning in the North East Constituency, where Sanjay Dina Patil from Shiv Sena (UBT) and Mihir Kotecha from BJP are vying for victory.

Party workers of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena alleged that they were stopped from campaigning in Samarpan Society in Maneklal Estate at Ghatkopar West, which has a majority Gujarati population. There is an allegation that activists were prevented from distributing pamphlets of Mahavikas Aghadi candidate Sanjay Dina Patil in the society in Ghatkopar.

Pradeep Mandwalkar, chief of Shakha 129 (shakha pramukh) in Ghatkopar, told mid-day that they had permission to campaign in Maneklal Estate on Sunday and their party workers (Marathi) were distributing pamphlets in the area to vote for Sanjay Patil. He said, "When we reached Samarpan Society, office bearers of the society did not allow us to enter the premises. After intervention by the police, they allowed two of our women party workers to distribute pamphlets but even those women were opposed by women residents and not allowed to go to apartments."

Mandwalkar added that he tried to intervene but the officer bearer said that they are workers with the BJP and their leader will raise questions if we are allowed to campaign in their society. They allowed the BJP to hold a meeting in the society.

Another worker from Shiv Sena (UBT) said this is not an isolated incident and they faced the same treatment at Akshardham Society in Narayan Nagar in Ghatkopar last Saturday. "We are denied entry wherever Gujarati residents are in the majority. In other societies with mixed populations, we do not face issues," he said.

Bhalchandra Shirsat, spokesperson of Mumbai BJP, said, "As per societies' rules, security watchmen do not allow outsiders without permission from office bearers. Even BJP workers are stopped at the gates of many societies and that's why it is not right to say that workers of specific parties were stopped at specific societies. It is MVA's attempt to create a controversy over Marathi versus Gujarati." He added that 50 per cent of the residents of the Samarpan Society are Gujarati and 50 per cent are from other linguistic backgrounds. Party workers will get to campaign with prior permission of the society. In this regard, the office bearers of the Samarpan Society have refuted the allegations through local BJP leaders but did not respond even after several attempts to contact through these leaders.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said that the party has taken this as a challenge and will fight it. "At the same time the role of the Shinde group, which says that our Shiv Sena is real, should be clarified in these incidents where Marathi people are being given secondary treatment," Raut said. MNS has also reacted to this issue, and MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande has alleged that a Marathi-Gujarati controversy is being deliberately created in Mumbai.

While speaking to the media, Sandeep Deshpande made allegations against the Thackeray Sena group. "Elections are ongoing in Mumbai. Therefore, an attempt is being made to create a Marathi-Gujarati controversy. This attempt is being made deliberately by the Thackeray group," he said, adding that a few days ago, the Thackeray Sena itself held a meeting of the Gujarati community in Mumbai. The Thackeray group also put up hoardings saying ‘Kem Chho Worli' in Worli. At that time, they were surrounded by Gujaratis. But now, they want the votes of Marathi people for elections. That is why the Gujarati-Marathi controversy is being created.

Sunday
Day the incident occurred

Past incidents

In Mumbai, and especially in Ghatkopar, Marathi versus Gujarati debates have been happening frequently in the last few months. A controversy erupted after Shiv Sena (UBT) workers replaced a signboard at the garden in Ghatkopar East displaying ‘Maro Ghatkopar' (My Ghatkopar) with a signboard in Marathi. The signboard was taken down by the police afterwards. Last year, the Gujarati-Marathi dispute was reported in Mulund, where a Marathi woman, Trupti Deorukhkar, was denied an apartment that had a majority of Gujarati residents. Later, after the intervention of political parties, Gujarati office bearers of the society tendered an apology.