Shiv Sena wants Marathi Manus to get as much as 80 per cent share in the BPO jobs. And its sibling, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is ready to beat up Biharis to safeguard the sons of the soil. Furthering the Marathi cause, are the demands of conferring Bharat Ratna posthumously on Vinayak Damodar Sawarkar and the renaming of Churchgate station after CD Deshmukh, the first finance minister of the nation.

All these point at a revival of the old emotional card that had not only launched Shiv Sena in Mumbai, but also established it as a political force to reckon with. And it has born again from Sena and MNS’s political analysis of recently concluded BMC elections.

Both Uddhav Thackeray, Executive President of Sena, and Raj Theckeray, MNS President, agreed on one count - that the BMC elections were completely influenced by the Marathi Manus, who had been feeling sidelined in the political arena. This realisation has led to both trying their best to capitalise on the old sentiment.

Despite the fact that the percentage of Marathi population in Mumbai’s 140 million population is declining, at 30 per cent plus the sons of the soil are still a deciding factor. They clearly displayed their preference for the Sena, and at the same time fuelled Raj’s ambition of winning them over to take a firm grip on state politics.

Uddhav too is dreaming of riding the Marathi support to put the saffron flag back on the top of Vidhan Bhavan. That is why, in every public meeting he is thanking the Marathi Manus for Sena’s victory in Mumbai, Thane and Nashik civic polls.

For Raj, there is another compulsion. His decision to back Congress’s mayoral candidate did not go down well with his own cadres.

“He is now trumpeting the Marathi issue to win back faith”,” said a senior Sena leader.

“Shiv Sena has always stood for the Marathi people. It will always look after the welfare of mill workers. We won’t allow a single mill worker remain unemployed. They have the right to jobs at shopping malls and corporate”.