Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) may have won 1.6 per cent vote share in the recent Assembly polls, but that hasn’t taken away the sheen from its workers as they were back in the headlines for doing what they do best—intimidating people.

On 3rd April, MNS workers beat up a bank employee in Lonavala for not using Marathi in daily business transactions.

The incident occurred as part of MNS’s drive to enforce the use of Marathi, the state’s official language, in government and private establishments.

The clip, which has been widely shared on social media, showed MNS workers banging the table, shoving a computer monitor and shouting at the manager, demanding that he converse in Marathi and then slapping a bank employee.

Despite failing polls after polls and losing popular support, MNS workers have often tried to claw back to prominence by its lumpen raj. From security guards and bank employees to shopkeepers and even cinema hall managers, the party has turned slapping into an ideological statement.

Their message is simple: Speak Marathi, or else...

A decade after its formation, Raj Thackeray, the party’s firebrand leader, cleared his method of political discourse. "I want workers who will beat up others, not get beaten up," he thundered in 2017 after MNS cadres were roughed up during an anti-hawker drive in Mumbai.

In 2017, MNS workers tried to impose Marathi signage on hawkers. The hawkers fought back, leaving four party workers hospitalised.

Per media reports, Raj Thackeray summoned his zonal office-bearers and gave them a warning. "If you get beaten up next time, I will remove you from all posts," he fumed.

But in the years since, MNS workers have proven their loyalty.

A few days back, in Mumbai’s Powai, a private security guard was beaten up for not speaking Marathi. A video of the incident, circulated on social media, showed the guard apologising with folded hands as MNS workers slapped him.

The security guard had told the party workers that he didn’t speak Marathi because he was from North India.

MNS spokesperson Vageesh Saraswat defended the assault with characteristic doublespeak. "Violence does take place. But it is not intentional," he told PTI, before adding that people living in Maharashtra must "respect" Marathi.

Earlier this year, MNS workers stormed a D-Mart store in Versova and allegedly slapped an employee who refused to speak Marathi. According to reports, the worker had said, "I will not speak in Marathi. I will speak only in Hindi. Do what you want to do."

But the party’s obsession with Marathi didn’t end with the spoken word.

In 2022, MNS workers slapped a restaurant manager in Navi Mumbai for refusing to play Marathi songs at an event, per reports.

The incident repeated last year when a lounge bar in Mira Road refused to play Marathi music on demand. The next night, MNS workers barged in, confronted the manager, and forced him to apologise on camera.

While Raj Thackeray is not part of the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, his proximity to the party is no secret. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, MNS didn’t field any candidates, extending an endorsement to the BJP.

"It is not wrong to demand Marathi in Maharashtra," chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said after the recent Powai incident, before hastily adding that "taking the law into one’s own hands" was not acceptable.

In 2018, MNS workers attacked a Pune cinema manager for allegedly refusing to reduce popcorn prices.

"We asked him to read news reports, he said he doesn’t know Marathi. Then we dealt with him MNS style," MNS worker Kishor Shinde told ANI.

In 2023, MNS workers barged into a chemist’s shop in Pune, threw ink on his face, and assaulted him for allegedly "insulting" Marathi. The chemist had asked if it was compulsory to speak the language.

This brand of politics has limits, which is clear from the successive electoral failure of Raj Thackeray.