India, June 14 -- In April, around the time the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) was flexing its muscles-quite literally, after failing to do so politically in the 2024 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly elections-by assaulting people for not speaking in Marathi, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anand Dubey came up with an idea.

To ensure the MNS did not hijack the Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Marathi agenda, the 44-year-old announced he would launch a free Marathi-speaking course to help non-Marathi speakers who recently moved to Mumbai.

Initially, there was enthusiasm for the course, with around 1,500 registrations, according to Dubey. "We had identified two locations in Kandivali and a third in Malad for the classes, and were planning to expand further,"...