Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Friday launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of attempting to create social and cultural tensions in Mumbai by using Chhath Puja as an issue, news agencies ANI and IANS reported. In a post on X, Thackeray alleged that the party was trying to provoke a conflict between Marathi and North Indian communities ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, and urged the public not to fall into what he described as a trap.

Source: ANI via Desi Talk Chicago

Thackeray alleged that the BJP and the social media ecosystem it has nurtured were making every possible effort to create discord in Maharashtra by circulating reels related to Chhath Puja and what he described as cultural aggression in its name. He also referred to Bhojpuri songs being played over public announcement systems at some railway stations in Mumbai, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Wadala, claiming that the MNS had stopped the playing. These are Thackeray's allegations and claims, reported as made by him.

Urging restraint, Thackeray asked the Marathi populace and his party cadre, the Maharashtra Sainiks, to remain alert and exercise strategic restraint rather than react in a way that, in his telling, would serve the BJP's political purpose. He also addressed North Indian and Gujarati residents in Mumbai directly, cautioning them against being used as political pawns.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

Thackeray further alleged a pattern in the BJP's politics, claiming it had attempted to trigger Hindu–Muslim tensions ahead of Lok Sabha elections and caste-based divisions before state assembly elections. He also referred to the controversy surrounding Mumbai's Kabutarkhana last year, claiming that a Gujarati-versus-Marathi dispute was fuelled to win the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections. All of these remain his allegations.

Chhath Puja, the four-day festival dedicated to the Sun god, begins on Friday, November 13, and is celebrated widely by people from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh living in Mumbai and across Maharashtra. No response from the BJP was reported in the ANI and IANS reports at the time of publication.