Shinde Sena and NDA government in the state step back over Marathi issue Asmita in the last few years. Shiv Sena (UBT) has consistently tried to project Shinde and his MLAs as: maharastradrohis Since they (Maharashtra traitors) were planning to topple the Uddhav Thackeray government in “foreign” lands, first in Gujarat and then in Goa.

The BJP has one more trouble to endure. He is seen as responsible for the dissolution of two regional parties widely seen as defending the state’s interests. The move to give classical language status to Marathi, a proposal that has been sitting in cold storage for too long, should be seen as a step in this direction.

This is a course correction measure adopted by the ruling NDA government to cover lost ground on Marathi sub-nationalism. The BJP is aware that it cannot achieve victory in Maharashtra alone. Therefore, it is in the interest of the BJP to build a support base large enough to ease the Shinde Sena’s burden in the assembly polls, but not so large that it challenges its dominant position in the alliance.

By taking up the move to give classical language status to Marathi, Shinde Sena wants to advance the language of the undivided Shiv Sena. Marathi Manoos vote bank. This is vital for the immediate future of the party and the ruling alliance in the Assembly polls and is vital for the long-term survival of the Shinde Shiv Sena.

(An alumnus of St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Omkar is currently pursuing a Research Master’s degree in Politics at Sciences Po, Paris. His research interests and publications include party politics and electoral competition in India, populism, Dravidian politics, voting behavior and minority Representation in Indian legislatures. He is currently working on the ideological transformation of Shiv Sena in the post-Bal Thackeray era. He is an incoming PhD student at Temple University, where he will research electoral politics in India. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are those of the author. Quint (It neither approves nor is responsible for this.)