Once rivals, Maharashtra and Karnataka groups unite to fight ‘Hindi imposition’

Once bitter rivals, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) have set aside a decade-long rivalry to unite against perceived threats to their regional languages and states. The two groups formed a joint front, titled 'Indian Languages Forum', during a meeting in Bengaluru. Their goal is to safeguard regional language identity and state rights from what they perceive as central government policies, including alleged Hindi imposition and central tax disparities.

The two organisations plan to host a national forum convention between October and November in New Delhi, inviting representatives from multiple South Indian states. This comes as the Central government and national parties are accused of ignoring the interests of South Indian states, particularly in areas like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and language imposition.

Both MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande and KRV chief T A Narayana Gowda expressed urgency for South Indian organisations to unite and fight against these perceived injustices. The forum will also address the issue of disproportionate returns on revenue contributions, as both states contribute heavily to the Centre but receive a disproportionately smaller share. They will advocate for the rationalisation of the devolution of central taxes.

Furthermore, the forum plans to tackle the issue of political representation following upcoming constituency delimitation based on population. This could dilute the political representation of states with lower population growth, such as Maharashtra and Karnataka, leaving them with significantly fewer MPs compared to states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Both groups agreed that current MPs affiliated with national parties fail to effectively champion regional demands. They cited the recent narratives from the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) as a potential threat to regional language politics and identity movements.

Despite their past border disputes, particularly over the Belagavi district, both MNS and KRV agreed to prioritize their shared fight for regional identity. They acknowledged that while Karnataka accepted the Mahajan Commission report recommending Belagavi remain in Karnataka, Maharashtra rejected it, but they both emphasized that their shared grievances against central policies outweigh local territorial disputes.