Raj Thackeray Calls Bhagwat ‘Delusional

Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat over his recent remarks regarding linguistic activism, suggesting that the RSS chief is ‘delusional’ about his influence and the nature of regional identity. The MNS leader alleged that hat dignitaries attended the RSS event in Mumbai due to political coercion and not because of the love for Bhagwat.

Thackeray was responding to a statement made by Bhagwat at an event in Mumbai on February 8, where the RSS chief reportedly said that insisting on language and occasionally agitating for it amounts to a ‘disease.’

Taking to X, Thackeray said Bhagwat was mistaken in believing that dignitaries attended the event out of admiration for him. “They attended out of fear of Narendra Modi’s government,” he alleged, adding that such speeches had never attracted audiences in the past.

The MNS chief said that linguistic identity was the basis for the reorganisation of Indian states and remains deeply entrenched across the country. Citing strong linguistic identities in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab and Gujarat, he said, “If love for one’s language and region is a disease, then it exists across most states.”

Thackeray said resentment builds when large groups of migrants move to other states, disregard local culture and language, and form political vote banks. He questioned why similar lectures on harmony were not delivered in other states where linguistic tensions have surfaced.

Referring to incidents in Gujarat, where migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were allegedly targeted in the past, Thackeray asked why the RSS leadership did not intervene there. He alleged that Bhagwat’s remarks were made because Maharashtra’s political leadership was ‘spineless.’

Thackeray also criticised the RSS for what he described as indirect political positioning, recalling a remark made by RSS leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi ahead of elections that Mumbai’s language was not limited to Marathi. He questioned why an organisation that claims to be non-political engages in such debates.

While stating that he respects the work of the RSS, Thackeray said it should first take a stand against what he termed the imposition of Hindi across the country. “Hindi is not the national language,” he said, adding that the Sangh should reprimand the government before lecturing others on harmony.

Thackeray asserted that the Marathi language and Marathi people remain the MNS’s highest priority. “Linguistic and regional identities will continue to exist in this country and they will certainly continue to exist in Maharashtra,” he said, adding that defending this identity was the party’s core purpose.