After trashing Congress office MNS targets corporates and store owners

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, December 2

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Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is seeking to make inroads in the offices and factories by whipping up passions among Marathi-speaking employees.

The party is reaching out to disgruntled Marathi-speaking employees in a few corporate houses, including multinationals in Mumbai, Thane and Pune, ostensibly to safeguard interests of the locals.

At one multi-national company, the MNS sent out letters saying Marathi-speaking employees including engineers recruited under the National Employment Enhancement Mission (NEEM) programme were being discriminated against.

“We are taking up the cases of Marathi-speaking employees who face discrimination by managements who favour outsiders,” senior MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande said.

According to him, affected Marathi-speaking employees whose contracts were not being renewed by corporate houses are approaching the MNS, especially if migrants were retained in their jobs.

The MNS has singled out a few companies for 'action' in the coming days, according to party leaders.

Simultaneously, the party has taken to threatening retailers including those who display their signboards in Marathi. In letters sent out to several prominent stores in Mumbai and Thane, the party is demanding that the Marathi lettering on their signboards be bigger than those in other languages.

According to traders, the party has set a December 14 deadline for the shopkeepers to modify their signboards.

Representatives of retailers have now met police officials at various locations and sought official protection.

“We have sought the intervention of the police against thugs who disrupt our business. We will move courts against the MNS if necessary,” Viren Shah, president, Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA) said.