October 19, 2008, Sunday - Raj
Thackeray was blamed for inciting the mob
of his partymen. He had been crying loud and talking provocative against
the people he considered 'outsiders' in Maharashtra who had become parasitic on
Marathi Manoos.
North Indian students in Mumbai
to take a Railways recruitment exam were targeted and beaten by the members of
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) led by Raj Thackeray. It was one of the most
ghastly acts of political 'goondaism' unleashed by MNS and its 'political'
hooligans. Means of public transport including trains were hit hard. Raj
Thackeray was shouting and sloganeering, from over the top. His brandishing of
the 'Marathi Manoos' sword was getting harsher and harsher. And it was not just
in Mumbai. The goons were operationalized in areas where MNS had impact and
where MNS had wanted to create a constituency of its own exploiting the Marathi
sentiments of the Marathi votebank. The arrogance and disregard to the
democratic values were reeking.
October 19, 2014, Sunday - No one
was where Raj Thackeray was. It could
not be said with 'a degree of newsworthiness' if he was sought at all yesterday,
or even today.
Yes, he was making for headlines
with his anti-North Indian rant while campaigning for the Maharashtra assembly
polls. His interviews were carried where he spoke in his trademark ways that we
had been watching since his separate advent on Maharashtra political scene
after leaving his uncle Bal Thackeray and Shiv Sena he wanted to head after the
senior Thackeray. His sky-high ego was brought down in a grand way yesterday
when his 'style of politics' was rejected by the voters and his party was
crushed mercilessly by the electorate. It was just yesterday when Raj Thackeray
was being discussed as a possible kingmaker in Maharashtra politics. And today,
he is staring at total annihilation of his political life with his party shrunk
to just one assembly seat and a vote share of just 3%, down from 13 seats and
around 12% voter share in 2009.
From an October Sunday in 2008 to
an October Sunday of 2014 - on 19th of October - ironies of day, date and fate
- that have forced Raj Thackeray to hide behind his shattered arrogance, the
shield of which is already fragmented.
Raj Thackeray may not be able to
hide in his own layer with such a fragmented shield of humiliated arrogance,
but no one is seeking him either, at the moment, not even his Marathi Manoos,
who played a significant role in hunting and humbling him down.
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com
