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 victoryParty workers of the Uddhav Thackerayled 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 GhatkoparPradeep Mandwalkar chief of Shakha 129 shakha pramukh in Ghatkopar told midday 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 ldquoWhen 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 apartmentsrdquoMandwalkar 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 societyAnother 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 ldquoWe are denied entry wherever Gujarati residents are in the majority In other societies with mixed populations we do not face issuesrdquo he saidBhalchandra Shirsat spokesperson of Mumbai BJP said ldquoAs per societiesrsquo rules security watchmen do not allow outsiders without permission from office bearers Even BJP workers are stopped at the gates of many societies and thatrsquos why it is not right to say that workers of specific parties were stopped at specific societies It is MVArsquos attempt to create a controversy over Marathi versus Gujaratirdquo 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 leadersShiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut said that the party has taken this as a challenge and will fight it ldquoAt 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 treatmentrdquo Raut said MNS has also reacted to this issue and MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande has alleged that a MarathiGujarati controversy is being deliberately created in MumbaiWhile speaking to the media Sandeep Deshpande made allegations against the Thackeray Sena group ldquoElections are ongoing in Mumbai Therefore an attempt is being made to create a MarathiGujarati controversy This attempt is being made deliberately by the Thackeray grouprdquo 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 lsquoKem Chho Worlirsquo 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 GujaratiMarathi controversy is being createdSundayDay the incident occurredPast incidentsIn 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 lsquoMaro Ghatkoparrsquo My Ghatkopar with a signboard in Marathi The signboard was taken down by the police afterwards Last year the GujaratiMarathi 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