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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 4:59:11 pm

Fadnavis reins in Sena’s Marathi push

AI generated image Mumbai: The ruling Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra is witnessing a delicate political balancing act, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis increasingly overriding key decisions of alliance partners, particularly the Shiv Sena, while simultaneously attempting to placate them on other fronts. The tension within the alliance came to the fore on Thursday when Fadnavis stepped in to dilute a controversial mandate enforced by Shiv Sena Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, which...

Fadnavis reins in Sena’s Marathi push

AI generated image Mumbai: The ruling Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra is witnessing a delicate political balancing act, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis increasingly overriding key decisions of alliance partners, particularly the Shiv Sena, while simultaneously attempting to placate them on other fronts. The tension within the alliance came to the fore on Thursday when Fadnavis stepped in to dilute a controversial mandate enforced by Shiv Sena Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, which required auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers in Mumbai to possess basic Marathi language proficiency. The Transport Department’s enforcement drive, which threatened non-Marathi-speaking drivers with suspension or cancellation of their licences, sparked outrage among North Indian drivers who form a sizeable section of the public transport workforce in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). Protests brought parts of Mumbai, including Kandivali and Malad, to a standstill. Recognising the potential electoral fallout, Fadnavis intervened, saying drivers need not be “experts” in Marathi. He also extended the grace period for drivers to acquire a working knowledge of the language to one year, effectively diluting Sarnaik’s hardline stance. Fadnavis announced the decision after a delegation of transport operators met him. The episode highlights the conflicting political compulsions of the Mahayuti partners. Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena is keen to pursue a pro-Marathi, “sons of the soil” agenda to consolidate its traditional voter base and counter the rival Shiv Sena (UBT) faction led by Uddhav Thackeray. The BJP, however, relies heavily on North Indian and migrant voters in the MMR, particularly as crucial civic and state elections approach. Any aggressive regional policy that alienates this constituency could have electoral consequences for the party. The Marathi language issue is not an isolated instance of Fadnavis stepping in to override decisions associated with the Shiv Sena. It fits into a broader pattern of the chief minister’s administration reviewing or reversing several initiatives of the previous government headed by Shinde. In April 2026, the BJP-led Environment Department, headed by Minister Pankaja Munde, scrapped 14 lake conservation projects, 11 of which had been cleared during Shinde’s tenure, and ordered recovery of more than Rs 73 crore. The Fadnavis government has also modified several initiatives introduced by the previous regime. In January 2025, it altered Shinde’s three-course school meal plan, placing the responsibility on local school management committees to raise funds for sweet dishes. In April 2025, the government scrapped the ‘One State, One Uniform’ policy for schools. A Rs 3,200-crore tender for mechanised housekeeping services at government hospitals, issued under the Shinde government, was also stayed. Yet, Fadnavis remains conscious of the need to preserve the fragile alliance. To manage growing resentment within the Sena, he has adopted what can be described as a ‘blow hot, blow cold’ approach — overriding decisions when they clash with the BJP’s broader political interests while offering political concessions on other fronts. One such move was the recent appointment of Shiv Sena leader Bharat Gogawale as Guardian Minister of the politically important Raigad district, ending a 19-month-long tussle over the post. At the same time, the Mahayuti government recently reduced the powers exercised by Guardian Ministers over District Planning Committee (DPC) funds, directing that 70 per cent of the funds be allocated directly to local MLAs. The move is aimed at reducing the concentration of financial powers with individual ministers. As the Mahayuti navigates these competing interests, Fadnavis has also instructed alliance partners to resolve disputes internally and avoid public sparring. However, the latest confrontation over the Marathi language requirement underscores the limits of that arrangement. While Fadnavis continues to use his authority to protect the BJP’s broader electoral interests, the Shiv Sena remains under pressure to assert its regional identity and distinguish itself from the Thackeray faction. With elections approaching, balancing these competing political priorities is likely to remain one of the biggest challenges for the Mahayuti government.

Marathi Matters

A basic knowledge of the local language should not be an unreasonable demand for someone earning a living by serving the public in that state.


The perfectly reasonable proposition put forward by the state government that commercial passenger-vehicle drivers should possess a working knowledge of Marathi has been unfortunately recast by some taxi and autorickshaw drivers as an assault on fundamental rights.

 

Four Mumbai-based Uber drivers have approached the Bombay High Court, challenging the state government’s notification making working knowledge of Marathi compulsory. Their petition invokes constitutional guarantees of equality, the freedom to practise a profession and the right to life, while arguing that the Motor Vehicles Act does not prescribe a language requirement for badges or permits.

 

There is nothing inherently oppressive about expecting a worker who operates in a particular linguistic environment to learn enough of its language to perform his job. A driver does not need to become a Marathi scholar, pass an examination in medieval literature or abandon his mother tongue. He needs to understand a passenger, ask where he wants to go, give basic directions and deal with an emergency. That cannot be cultural assimilation by force. It is, in fact, basic occupational competence.

 

The principle is hardly peculiar to Maharashtra. Indians who move to another state for work routinely encounter a different language and, sensibly, make an effort to acquire at least its basics. A Bengali worker in Tamil Nadu, a Marathi worker in Karnataka or a Hindi-speaking migrant in Kerala cannot reasonably expect the surrounding society to reorganise itself entirely around his linguistic preferences. Learning the local language is one of the simplest forms of adaptation and, ideally, the beginning of acculturation.

 

The irony in Mumbai is particularly rich. Drivers protesting the requirement have reportedly been turning up at language classes, armed with handwritten Marathi phrases. What passengers actually need is rather more prosaic, basic yes or no and questions on destination from their prospective drivers.

 

The state’s decision to establish 161 training centres, provide a helpline and allow drivers who fail the test time to improve is therefore welcome. Enforcement should be transparent, proportionate and free of vigilantism. A language requirement certainly should never become an excuse for extortion or intimidation.

 

But the answer to an imperfectly administered rule is better administration, not the rejection of the principle itself. Those who choose to earn their livelihood in Maharashtra should not be encouraged to regard Marathi as an imposition simply because it is inconvenient to learn.


Mumbai has always absorbed outsiders. It has not required them to surrender their identities. It can, however, reasonably ask them to learn how to say “yes, please sit” before they learn a dozen ways of saying “I want to go home.”

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