Raj Thackeray’s Test

Why he wants his partymen to clear a written exam to qualify as poll candidates

MUMBAI Recently, Raj Thackeray had a brainwave: a written test for all those aspiring to contest as candidates of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corp (BMC) slated for early 2012. The examination will be held on 4 December at various locations across Mumbai. Aspirants will have to pay Rs 1,000 as examination fees, announced Thackeray, and no cheques will be accepted, only cash.

In keeping with the academic approach, retired teachers have been roped in to help conduct the test. Answer scripts will be assessed by these teachers, and the results will be announced promptly thereafter. The question paper, though, will be set by the MNS chief, who is busy working out what aspects of knowledge his party candidates ought to be in possession of. Party hopefuls are busy guessing what’s on his mind. “This is one paper that will not leak,” Thackeray recently said, addressing party workers, “Don’t try to look for connections or influence to get you the question paper. It will not work.”

Absurd though the idea of a test sounds, especially for a party that thrives on ignorance of the law (such as every citizen’s right to move freely within India), it has won Thackeray applause from Mumbaikars, many of whom have cheered it on as a ‘first’ in electoral politics. This may be because they see more relevance in local knowledge than constitutional. Fed up with elected representatives who are unfamiliar with the wards they represent or the way the BMC works, Mumbaikars expect better aware members of the civic body to do a better job.

Thackeray, on his part, hopes that his push for higher standards of governance will give him an electoral edge, allowing him to control a majority of the BMC’s 227 seats. For over two decades, the Shiv Sena—of which the MNS is a breakaway—has ruled the BMC in alliance with the BJP. But as Mumbai’s population multiplied, so did the Sena’s problems. Since the last election, which marked the MNS’s debut, the Sena has been trying to woo professionals to contest the polls; put off by the hooliganism of Sainiks, however, they have largely stayed away.

The MNS thinks it has a better chance at fielding educated candidates. In his recent address to party workers, Raj Thackeray also announced that if he did not find a suitable candidate for a ward, he would “auction” that seat. So serious was he about keeping away riff-raff.

But what might an MNS takeover of the BMC mean? Some clues exist. Earlier this year, Thackeray, a self-proclaimed fan of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, visited that state to study Modi’s development model. He had also visited Surat’s civic body, seen as an exemplar of civic efficiency, post-plague. Thackeray held detailed discussions with Modi, and promised to implement his model in Mumbai if elected to power.

The effects are already noticeable. While north Indian migrants remain vulnerable to attack, having already suffered mob violence, now that the MNS’s ire at their presence in Mumbai is loud and clear (the Marathi manoos issue), Thackeray’s own public rhetoric has switched to ‘development’.

To keep up, MNS ticket hopefuls are rushing to shops that stock books on Mumbai. A bookshop owner in Dadar, where the MNS is headquartered, reveals that he has started scouring other shops for such books. “There are not many books in Marathi on the subject,” he grumbles, “Only a small percentage of the Marathi population read in the language. Which Mumbaikar will read about the city?”

For Thackeray, the BMC polls are extremely important, as they will either make or break his image as the real inheritor of the legacy of Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray, his uncle. If his breakaway MNS performs well, he can lay claim to the rest of the Sena’s constituency. He is already on a direct collision course with his cousin and Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray, the appointed heir. Whoever emerges stronger could determine how politics in the city shapes up in the years ahead.

Intent on trouncing his cousin, Raj Thackeray has started rigorous interactions with a cross-section of Mumbaikars. In a recent ‘delimitation’ exercise, wards have been broken up and newer ones created. This local gerrymandering implies new vote calculations, and the MNS realises that its sons-of-the-soil (Marathi manoos) card is not enough to win elections in a city with a diminishing proportion of Marathi voters; by the latest data available, only 22 per cent of its residents can be classified as such. Such knowledge, ward by ward, could influence the tone of street-corner campaign speeches. As Thackeray said, “The candidate should at least know the population of the ward he wants to represent.” It figures.

MaharashtraMNSRaj Thackeray