Mumbai, 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," he said. The first batch began in mid-April in Kandivali, a suburb with a significant north Indian population, with around 50 students. However, Dubey's initiative would eventually fall victim to a perennial issue in a city with a burgeoning population, inadequate public transport and poor road conditions-commuting time. "After the first week, attendance went down to around 50%," said Dubey. "Participants said that due to their office timings or their work-related issues, they found it difficult to attend regularly. Meanwhile, many of those who registered informed us that they could attend online classes, but it was not possible to attend physically due to work- and travel-related issues." To think that a party helmed by the son of the legendary Bal Thackeray is fighting to ensure another party does not hijack its pro-Marathi agenda is seeped in irony. The Shiv Sena was founded in 1966 by the late Bal Thackeray to address the perceived marginalisation of Marathi-speaking people in Maharashtra. Its core agenda was to promote the interests of the Marathi manoos or sons of the soil. This agenda resonated with many Marathi-speaking voters in Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai, as the Shiv Sena took control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in 1985. Since then, it has never lost the polls to India's richest civic body. When Chhagan Bhujbal, then with the Shiv Sena, became the mayor of the city, he came up with the slogan "Sundar Mumbai, Marathi Mumbai" (Beautiful Mumbai, Marathi Mumbai), with a commitment that the cosmopolitan metropolis with a diverse population would be seen as a city of Marathi people. The Shiv Sena has frequently reasserted this issue-of Mumbai's Marathi identity-in the last four decades. In March 2025, the issue was back on the political agenda after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi remarked that Mumbai does not have one language and that anyone coming to the city need not necessarily learn Marathi. His remark kicked up a controversy, with both the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS criticising it and using it to target the RSS and its political offshoot, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). At his Gudhi Padwa rally on March 30 at Shivaji Park, MNS chief Raj Thackeray delivered a fiery speech emphasising the importance of the Marathi language and identity. He said that those who claim they cannot speak Marathi in Mumbai would "get a slap on the face". Immediately after the rally, there were several reported incidents of MNS workers assaulting people for not speaking Marathi, including bank and supermarket employees. The MNS's target appeared to be north Indians, the second-largest linguistic group in Mumbai after Marathis. Ever since it was formed in 2006, the party has had a history of aggressive rhetoric and violence against north Indian Hindi-speaking migrants in Maharashtra. It was in this backdrop that Dubey, who was born in Varanasi before his family moved to Mumbai when he was four, announced a Marathi-speaking course for non-Marathi people. The course was to be one month long and free. Dubey, who started his political journey with the Congress before joining the Shiv Sena in 2019, urged non-Marathi speakers to register for the course. He put up hoardings in Kandivali saying, "Don't be afraid. Let's speak Marathi. Let's respect Marathi." He also circulated a message on social media slamming the MNS for beating non-Marathi people for not knowing Marathi, but doing nothing to help them. There's no doubt the timing of Dubey's initiative was opportune, with the BMC elections expected to be held for the first time since 2017 after the monsoon. Following the split in the Shiv Sena in 2022 and a debacle in the 2024 assembly polls, the BMC elections could be make or break for the Shiv Sena (UBT). Party chief Uddhav Thackeray is keen to get the support of north Indians living in Mumbai. Dubey launched the Marathi-speaking course in Kandivali, where he's based. Initially, it received a good response, with around 1,500 people registering. In the third week of April, the classes started, with the first batch of 50. Most of the participants were north Indians, including shop owners, auto-taxi drivers, salesmen, and a couple of engineers, Dubey said. However, after the first week, attendance started dwindling as participants found it difficult to attend the class physically. Some participants also left the batch midway as they went to their home towns for the summer vacations, Dubey said. As a result, the second batch could not start. Gulab Maurya, 42, a private sector employee from Dahisar who attended the first batch, said it benefited him personally. "The teacher, Rahul Jadhav, taught us communication skills in Marathi. First, he taught us similarities between Hindi and Marathi and then taught us words and sentences required in public places. After the first week, people started dropping out as some of them went on vacation, and some had work-related issues. At the end of the month, around 25 people completed the course. It gave me confidence that I can speak basic Marathi at office places and public places," said Maurya. Lalu Yadav, 28, who runs a fruit stall in Dahisar, said that the class tenure should be around three months. "It was a good course to learn communication skills in Marathi. It was for one month, but I feel that it should be for around three months so that people can learn properly. Some people are quick in learning another language, but most people need time for it. Many people were demanding an online class, but I personally feel physical attendance is a better way to learn," said Yadav. Dubey has discontinued the course for now, but said he would revive it if there is still demand for it. "I am willing to restart it at any point in time," he said. Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Harshal Pradhan said the initiative had the party's support and was not a political move. "Teaching Marathi to non-Marathi people is not a political event for us. It's a social service started by Dubey, and the party supports it. It would be continued as per the demand by people," he said. However, the MNS's Mumbai president, Sandeep Deshpande, dismissed the initiative. "It was nothing but a political stunt by Dubey. Those who want to speak Marathi learn it from other sources," he said....