The significance of Messers Raj Thackeray

Raj Thackeray and his MNS have been in the news for all the wrong reasons. They have become synonymous with vandalism, lawlessness, and a sheer nuisance value for all those who’d rather prefer peace and orderliness, without really bothering to identify the simmering discontent beneath. This discontent is mainly due to the shrinking job opportunities in the place of their domicile, and above all, being threatened by the so called ‘outsiders’ from other states of the Indian Union, who because of lack of progress, and relative underdevelopment in these other states, are out to grab even the limited job opportunities in place of their domicile.

The frontpage of Sunday Times (Delhi edition), dated 15th November, carried a news item “Recruit only Marathis, MNS warns SBI”.

The moment I read the headline, I said to myself, “Oh No! What a pest these MNS goons are. I wish someone had the guts to set them right.” But after going through the entire newsitem, I was somehow compelled to change my stance of an avid hater of Messers Raj Thackeray, to a reluctant admirer of a shrewd politician, who was very cleverly exploiting the most pressing need of his target audience, albeit in a highly controversial way.

Yes, what can be more important for any individual today, than a stable job, which is a source of steady income, which a PSU like SBI could provide ?

The newsitem further said, “ On Saturnday (14th November), a group of MNS activists led by MLA Bala Nandgaonkar, submitted a letter to the SBI recruitment cell in the city, urging it to give preference to the locals. They argued that if there were a state quota of 1100 vacancies, all of it should go to the locals.” Furthermore, MLA Bala Nandgaonkar was quoted, “ Why should people from other states be allowed to come to Maharashtra and give exams? They can appear for the test in their respective states.”

Prima facie, there is much merit in these two assertions of MNS. For an All India exam for 11,000 vacancies across the country, there is no justification whatsoever to counter these two assertions. Perhaps, the senior management of SBI could throw some light on their stand on the same.

This standoff, highlights a deeper malaise confronting our nation today. And that is, of a great divide that exists between the respective states, especially where the overall progress and development is concerned.

Maybe due to corruption, political indifference, populism, aimed at bankrupting the state’s coffers to win votes somehow, etc etc the relative backwardness of BIMARU (Bihar, MP, Rajasthan, and UP) states as compared to the icons of development like Maharashtra and Gujrat deserves serious attention.

If I were an aspirant for such a coveted job of a PSU like SBI, and from Maharashtra , I would hate the site of my fellow countrymen from such BIMARU states sitting next to me in the examination hall, and threatening to grab that job in my own place of domicile. Let all the sermons of ‘merit based selection criteria’ etc be for those, whose two square meals a day are assured, and their children don’t face an uncertain future.

“ If the political leadership of BIMARU states have been and are being, corrupt incompetent and indifferent, then does it mean that I being a resident of a highly progressive state, have to pay for it by forgoing the limited job opportunities in my own state just to accomodate those migrating from such backward states ?”

I am sure this would be the question uppermost in the minds of most job aspirants from a state like Maharashtra.

It is worthwhile to recall that recently, a leading politician from Madhya Pradesh, echoed “Raj Thackeray line” while pressing for preference to the locals in recruitments to various jobs available in the state. That he had to later change his stance by saying that people from other states like Bihar etc were also welcome to Madhya Pradesh, is another matter.

If the alarming threat of Naxalism, which has its support base among those marginalized sections of our society, who have been denied the fruits of our progress and development, is any indication, then it is high time that our political leadership in general, and the political executives of our states, wake up to this challenge of addressing regional disparities in development and general climate for overall progress, before it is too late. We just cannot afford any unrest among our citizens, which can threaten peace and stability of the nation as a whole.

Of course, another significant byproduct of such development related initiatives would be, that politicians like Raj Thackeray would be marginalized, and would lose their relevance in no time.