I was once a big MNS fan.
Their Balasaheb-style aggression and Hindutva tone genuinely appealed to me. But over time, I started noticing the pattern.
One example I clearly remember is Sur Kshetra in 2012. The show had Pakistani artists like Atif Aslam and Indian legend Asha Bhosle. MNS strongly opposed it, saying Pakistani artists should not be allowed on Indian TV. Their workers built the whole narrative, gave strong statements and created pressure.
Then Boney Kapoor and the Colors TV CEO met Raj Thackeray at his Dadar residence. Suddenly, MNS gave the show a green signal.
That was the moment I understood the game.
Workers fight on the ground, create outrage, take abuse, build political pressure. Then high command meets the producer, changes the stance, and everyone is expected to quietly follow.
Now look at Sandeep Deshpande, who is leading this white strip issue. His own restaurant is named “Induri Chaat.”
Nothing wrong with Indori food. Business is business.
But then don’t preach Marathi asmita to common people 24x7. If your politics runs on preserving Marathi culture, you could have made a Maharashtrian-themed restaurant too: Puneri Misal, Kolhapuri Tambda-Pandhra, Khandeshi food, Konkani food, Varhadi food, anything.
But when it comes to themselves, they choose market sense. When it comes to common Marathi people, they give emotional lectures.
Same with Marathi schools. These leaders tell common Marathi families to send children to Marathi-medium schools, while their own children study in posh English-medium schools, learning Julius Caesar instead of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, sitting with Bollywood and industrialist kids.
For themselves: global exposure.
For common Marathi people: emotional lectures on Marathi pride.
So when I see MNS today turning a harmless white strip into a Marathi vs Jain issue, I don’t see ideology. I see the same old pressure-politics template.
Create outrage. Build pressure. Get visibility. Then call it asmita.
That is when I stopped being a fanboy.
Go and check speech of Raj Thackeray between 2010 to 2012 he already raised this issue, remember the Tole controversy which he refused to pay.
The main issue is he doesn't have much presence on Social Media.