Mumbai: The Maharashtra government’s decision to make Marathi compulsory for auto and taxi drivers in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and the rest of the state, from 1 May, has caused friction within the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Two senior party leaders have taken opposing stances.
Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, a senior Shiv Sena MLA, took the decision, which his party colleague, Sanjay Nirupam, has challenged. Nirupam wrote a letter to Sarnaik, raising his concerns, and requesting that the decision be reconsidered.
However, Nirupam told ThePrint that he had no difference of opinion with Sarnaik or his party and had not taken any anti-party stand.
“Marathi needs to be spoken; there is nothing wrong with it. I have said that making Marathi compulsory is not right, and revoking licences based on it is not right,” he explained.
“These are all less educated people. If you start testing them, they will fail. And then you’ll revoke their permit—this is not right. And I have just requested him [Sarnaik] to reconsider this.”
Nirupam told ThePrint that after his letter, Sarnaik called and invited him to a meeting scheduled for 28 April to discuss the decision, where further clarifications would be shared.
Speaking to ThePrint, Nirupam said he met auto and taxi drivers in Dahisar Friday to comfort them. “I met them and told them that their licences won’t be revoked, but they should also learn basic Marathi. There is no problem with that. There is no issue in learning another language. It makes you a better person,” he said.
Originally from Bihar, Nirupam has championed the cause of North Indians in Mumbai. This record is there, despite him being a leader of the Shiv Sena, a party known for its anti-North India posturing.
In 2018, when migrant workers were escaping violence in Gujarat, following the rape of a minor by a migrant worker, Nirupam stood up for North Indians in Mumbai. At the time, he reassured the migrants, saying that if they left Mumbai, there would be no one to provide services in the city.
Earlier, Nirupam even demanded reservations for North Indian OBCs living in Mumbai for employment.
And still earlier, when the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) had taken to beating North Indian auto and taxi drivers in the late 2000s, he was one of the few leaders—then in the Congress—who had stood up for them.
Nirupam was expelled from the Congress for “anti-party activities”, nearly 19 years after he joined the party from the undivided Shiv Sena, in 2024, after which he joined Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena.
Nirupam’s letter
In his 23 April letter to Sarnaik, Nirupam wrote that many auto and taxi drivers had contacted him to convey that they were scared and confused—and that there was unease among thousands of daily wagers—around the new Marathi language requirement.
“Marathi language is respected, and pride in it is in every heart. However, putting it in the bracket of enforcement and exams, for daily wage earners, will be detrimental. A language grows through acceptance, not enforcement,” Nirupam wrote, reiterating that respect for Marathi was unquestionable.
Additionally, he wrote that nearly 70 percent of auto and taxi drivers in Mumbai hailed from Gujarat, Punjab, South India, and North India.
Earlier this April, Sarnaik said that auto and taxi drivers would be tested on their proficiency in Marathi, and if they failed the test, their permits would be revoked. On Thursday, he clarified that auto and taxi drivers would have to speak professional Marathi starting 1 May (Maharashtra Day). To that end, the transport minister announced a government initiative to teach the language to non-Marathi drivers. The government, he added, did not wish to take away drivers’ employment, but the issue of revoking licences was still under consideration.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut welcomed the step by Sarnaik and said that anybody opposing the move was “anti-Marathi”.
MNS also supported the initiative.
Addressing the media, MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande said it was time to teach North Indians a lesson. “This is the time to tell them that ‘you are not Mumbai, you are not Maharashtra; those Marathis staying here are Mumbai and Maharashtra, and nobody can hold Mumbai or Maharashtra for ransom’,” he said.
However, senior Congress leader Nana Patole questioned the need for any such move. “Mumbai is a city with global standards and the country’s financial capital. So, if the city is divided on linguistic lines, it’s harmful, not only to this city but also to this country.”
“When Narendra Modi or Amit Shah comes to Mumbai, will you ask them to give speeches in Marathi? That will snatch away your jobs, so you won’t. Whatever is happening is not good,” he added.
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Nirupam’s journey
Nirupam started his political journey with the undivided Shiv Sena. He was a Shiv Sena MP in the Rajya Sabha and the editor of Dopahar ka Saamana, the party’s Hindi mouthpiece. He was even considered the “blue-eyed boy of Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray”. He then fell out with the party.
After the Sena, Nirupam joined the Congress in 2005. While with the party, he was the MP of Mumbai (North) constituency between 2009 and 2014. He climbed the ladder and was appointed Mumbai Congress president in 2015, but only after the party had faced its worst-ever defeat in Maharashtra. Due to infighting, he, however, never got enough support to revive the party. Moreover, he would often be looked at as an outsider. The protests or meetings he would organise would have the stalwarts missing.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Nirupam wanted to contest from Mumbai North West. The party was initially against it. Just before the polls, it appointed Milind Deora as Mumbai Congress president, replacing Nirupam. The veteran eventually got the seat he wanted to contest, but lost.
When the Congress entered an alliance with the Shiv Sena (UBT) in 2019, for Nirupam, it was an uncomfortable equation. Then, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Congress initially gave the Mumbai North West seat to the Shiv Sena (UBT)—a move that angered Nirupam. He levelled corruption charges against the Sena candidate. In April 2024, the Congress expelled him, citing indiscipline and anti-party activities. Afterwards, Nirupam joined Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, his journey coming full circle.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)