Party VP 'protests' Reliance Energy issuing bills in Gujarati, demands it print them only in Marathi, Hindi and English, without realising the options have been available for 12 years
MNS vice president Nayan Kadam (in maroon shirt) speaks to officials at Reliance Energy’s Dahisar office
Even after suffering a staggering setback in the recently concluded BMC polls while riding on the Marathi manoos wave, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is in no mood to give up its bullying tactics.
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The Raj Thackeray-led party's latest tirade is against Reliance Energy issuing its electricity bills in Gujarati. The party wants the company to issue bills only in Marathi, Hindi and English.
The catch: Reliance has been issuing the bills in all three of those languages and Gujarati since 2005.
Bemoans new 'trend'
But since fact-checking was not on the agenda, on Wednesday, MNS vice-president Nayan Kadam along with party workers barged into Reliance Energy's office at Dahisar and urged the power supplying company to issue bills only in Marathi, Hindi and English. "Why does the company want to set a new trend and issue bills in Gujarati?" Kadam said. He has even warned of intensifying the agitation, if the power supplying company fails to rectify the error.
In fact, the MNS in its letter given to the company has even questioned if power companies issue bill in Marathi in states like Gujarat and Chennai. Asked about the timing of the agitation, Kadam said that it is not a vote bank issue. "MNS never objected over the use of three languages used for the billing system. But, why set a new precedent and create a further linguist divide in the society," he argued.
Can get bill in Braille too
However, according to the power supplying company officials, the usage of Gujarati has been around for years and is not something new.
"Being a customer-centric organisation, Reliance Energy has been providing, since 2005, four language options viz Marathi, Hindi, English and Gujarati for the bills of our esteemed customers. We even provide bill option in Braille. A customer wanting to change the language option of their bill can easily do so through anyone of our touch points like thetoll free call centre, customer care centres, mobile app or website," said a Reliance Energy spokesperson.
Biggest loser
The MNS' objection on the use of Gujarati comes close on the heels of their loss in the civic elections, where BJP got a three-fold rise in its seat tally on account of the Gujarati community's votes. The biggest loser due to polarization of Marathi and Gujarati votes was MNS. The MNS, which had won 28 seats in 2012, had to settle with merely seven seats this time.
This surge in Gujarati votes hurt not just the MNS, but the Shiv Sena too. While BJP's tally increased from 32 (in 2012) to 82 (2017), the Shiv Sena's tally merely increased by nine seats. Sena bagged 75 seats in 2012 polls and 84 in the polls this year.
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