Whose Mumbai is it? Sena vs RSS war grows

Mumbai (NDTV) - In an exclusive interview to NDTV, the president of the BJP has stood by its parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) on migrant politics in Mumbai.

BJP President Nitin Gadkari said, "It has been the consistent stand of the BJP. Under Article 19 (1E), all Indians shall have the right to reside and settle anywhere in India. Everyone in India is supposed to obey the constitution, but we understand that in every state there is one language, one culture - we respect that too. At the same time, there is no conflict between national spirit and state spirit."

On Monday morning, the tension within the Saffron Parivaar escalated with the Shiv Sena telling the RSS to keep out of Mumbai's affairs.

The Sena's President, Uddhav Thackeray, said, "RSS should not intervene in Mumbai's affairs. Shiv Sena saved Hindi people in Mumbai riots. Then, RSS did not act. If they are so fond of Hindi, they should teach it in South India. They should act to stop North Indians being targeted in Assam."

The Sena has been on edge after, Mohan Bhagwat, the president of the RSS, said over the weekend that Mumbai belongs to all Indians. The RSS also said its volunteers would work to "prevent the spread of anti-North and anti-Hindi feelings."

The Shiv Sena reacted swiftly on Sunday; party leader Manohar Joshi declared, "Mumbai belongs to Marathi people. It is only because of the Shiv Sena's struggle that Marathi people have been able to survive in Mumbai."

The current political storm over migrant labour in Mumbai began after the Congress chief minister in Maharashtra said that taxi drivers applying for permits in Mumbai had to be fluent in Marathi, and had to prove they had lived in the city for 15 years.

Gigantic public criticism, followed for Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, with many saying he was trying to out-Sena the Sena. Chavan then softened his stand to say that Marathi was not a pre-requisite; drivers comfortable in Hindi and Gujarati would also be considered eligible. Mumbai has 54,000 taxi permits that need to be renewed. More than half the city's taxi drivers are from North India.

The Sena grabbed the chance to attack migrant labour for stealing jobs from Maharashtrians. In London last week, Mukesh Ambani told NDTV that Mumbai belongs to all of India. In response to a question by NDTV's Barkha Dutt on the issue of migrant labour, he said more jobs need to be created to ensure equal opportunity. This comment came under fire from the Sena.

United by the Hindutva platform, the Shiv Sena is the BJP's oldest and ideologically closest ally. But after Raj Thackeray parted ways with the Shiv Sena, and benefited from a strong anti-migrant stand in the recent elections, the Sena has been pushing its pro-Marathi identity more aggressively.

That conflicts with the BJP's goal of trying to unite all Hindus, regardless of their region of origin. Regionalism could cost it dearly in other state elections in the North. Bihar votes this year, and Uttar Pradesh in 2012. So the BJP is taking baby steps away from the Sena. The courage to take those steps comes from a stronger showing in the Maharashtra elections last year. For the first time in the two-decade-old alliance, the BJP won more seats than its partner (46 for the BJP, 45 for the Sena).

For those same elections, Nitin Gadkari had pushed the alliance to breaking point over a single Lok Sabha seat. Now that he's President, the Sena-baiter can roar louder.