Prashant Kishor, Chirag Paswan slam Raj Thackeray over ‘Chhath Puja’ remarks

MNS chief Raj Thackeray has come under fire for his remarks on Chhath Puja, with Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor and Union Minister Chirag Paswan accusing him of promoting regionalism and seeking media attention. The controversy follows Thackeray's allegation that the BJP is fuelling linguistic and regional tensions in Mumbai over the festival for political gains.

New Delhi: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday faced criticism for his remarks regarding the ‘Chhath Puja’ festival, with the Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor and Union Minister Chirag Paswan accusing Raj Thackeray of attempting to “garner spotlight” and indulge in “regionalism”.

This comes a day after the MNS Chief accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to manufacture regional and linguistic conflict in Mumbai over Chhath Puja to reap political dividends in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections early next year.

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“To this end, they (BJP) are circulating reels on social media depicting the rituals and what they frame as a ‘cultural invasion’ stemming from them. As if that weren’t enough, they even attempted to play Bhojpuri music at certain railway stations in Mumbai, which was promptly shut down by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) anyway,” Thackeray said in a post on social media platform X.

The MNS Chief’s remarks were seen as an attack on the sentiments of those hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Reacting to Raj Thackeray’s remark, Bihar’s Bankipur MLA Prashant Kishor said: “When no one pays him any attention, he manages to secure space in the media by making remarks about people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.”

“You (media) should not give any preference or platform to such individuals… His (Raj Thackeray’s) only agenda is to remain in the media spotlight by any means necessary. Whenever he goes unnoticed for six months, he pops up with some comment against people from Bihar or Uttar Pradesh,” Kishor told reporters.

Union Minister Chirag Paswan added, “This has always been the ideology and thinking of his (Raj Thackeray’s) party. They have consistently promoted regionalism in politics.”

Highlighting that a large section of population from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh live and work in Mumbai, the LJP-Ram Vilas Chief said: “I believe that people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have always contributed to keeping the wheels of the country’s economy running. There would hardly be any part of the country where people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are not contributing in some capacity, whether as labourers, as part of the workforce or as entrepreneurs and business owners.”

Noting that Raj Thackeray’s uncle Bal Thackeray never insulted North Indians and neither promoted regionalism, Chirag Paswan said: “I think this kind of thinking should not be encouraged.”

Meanwhile, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) National Spokesperson Vinod Bansal urged leaders to rise above politics during festival celebrations.

Describing that ‘Chhath Puja’ is the grand festival of worshipping Lord Surya as well as worshipping nature, Bansal said: “We feel that when Hindu festivals arrive, they should be above politics, something that has not been seen over the past few decades. Politicians do engage in politics wherever the public is connected. However, hateful politics, anti-Hindu politics, or anti-religion politics automatically gets exposed in all this.”