Politics is not just about elections. It has a much larger scope and meaning. Unfortunately, we have confined our understanding of the word to a rather narrow meaning.

“How do we want our nation or state to be? What should be the basic tenets that should never be compromised? What should be our priorities and why? To have such an ideology, to fight elections, to come to power in order to promote that ideology, to win the elections and to convince people in order to win elections” – that is politics.

Politics therefore, is not limited to elections. Politics must have an ideology, a way that you perceive your society to be, a dream that you dream for your society, and politics must be about realizing that dream. Politics must be based on values and principles that are decided and followed collectively. This blueprint is our dream of a prosperous Marathi Maharashtra. And we present it to you so that together, we can work towards realizing this dream.

We are not the first ones to have prepared such a plan. In the course of history, there have been many kings, heads of states and political parties that put forward their vision and mobilized people to follow their dream. This blueprint is our attempt.

Perhaps the biggest example is that of Samrat Ashoka. Nearly 2250 years ago, around 264 to 227 BC, Samrat Ashoka ruled a large part of India, Pakistan and Afganistan and stopped short of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the South. In his 40 years of rule, he undertook many projects that benefitted the society. Samrat Ashoka is believed to be the first king in the history of mankind who declared as his goals peace, harmony and the creation of a just and humane society. The famous historian, H. G. Wells, had this to say about Samrat Ashoka: ‘For eight and twenty years Asoka worked sanely for the real needs of men. Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history, their majesties and graciousnesses and serenities and royal highnesses and the like, the name of Asoka shines, and shines, almost alone, a star’.

Interestingly, two of the edicts on which Samrat Ashoka documented his beliefs are to be found in Maharashtra, in the town of Sopara in Thane district. Apart from Samrat Ashoka, we can easily recall other names that wrote about their dream of a society.

Chanakya wrote his treatise Arthashastra about economics and politics in society around 300 BC; Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848; the writings of Henry David Thoreau such as Civil Disobedience (1849) and John Ruskin’s Unto This Last (1860) that inspired Mahatma Gandhi, presented their thoughts about the working of society; Lenin’s Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution (1905); Hitler’s Mein Kamph or Mahatma Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj (1909) – all are documents that are in the same genre.

The 22 vows of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Mao’s documents on Cultural Revolution, Dharampal’s papers about ideal society such as The Beautiful Tree (1983) also talk about their ideas of society. This is not an exhaustive list and there are still more names that can go into this list. The point that we wish to make here is that politics needs an ideology, and politicians must have a vision and a dream about where they wish to take their people. By making such an attempt, we do not claim that we are in the same league as these great people. But one thing is certain – Politics is about presenting and pursuing this dream, and mobilizing people to follow this dream. The one who does that is a true leader.

This blueprint is our dream of Maharashtra, our vision of how we want to build a Marathi society, Marathi culture which will be a dominant force in the world.

The film industry had been sharply warned through correspondence multiple times not to entertain artists and productions from Pakistan. In spite of this, a few feel compassion for Pakis. One such producer had been trying to get a film ‘Bin Roye’ released in Indian cinema halls, which was made with contribution from Pakistani actors and technicians. Promptly, the ‘Maharashtra Navnirman Cine Workers’ Front’ contacted the producer and promoter in the special MNS style, and stopped the exhibition of that film in India.

Pakistan launched a terrorist attack at Uri in 2016. Indian soldiers were martyred. Nationwide outrage ensued. Corpses of the Indian soldiers were being returned to their homes. The nation was echoing with the sentiment that Pakistan must be answered in their own language. And information about Pakistani actors being signed for some upcoming Hindi movies was also spreading. ‘Maharashtra Navnirman Cine Workers’ Front’ wasted no time in calling out a press conference. “Pakistani artists better leave within 48 hours or be prepared for the wrath of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena” was the message. Sensing the growing support from all over the country for the stance taken by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, the Paki artists fled from India. The epitome of their brazenness was that the same Pakistani performers on returning to Pakistan made obnoxious statements about the Uri attack and the Indian army. This proved to everyone that the position taken by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to shoe off these Pakistani artists was indeed correct.