The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) party has announced financial rewards for information about illegal migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh.
A poster put in Bandra, Mumbai, said informants would be paid Rs 5,555. Another, seen in Aurangabad, where municipal elections loom, offers Rs 5,000.
The MNS is led by Raj Thackeray, the cousin of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. It recently unveiled a new saffron flag, indicating a possible shift towards Hindutva ideology at a time of political tumult in Maharashtra. Uddhav’s Shiv Sena recently broke ties with the BJP to form a government with two secular parties.
The MNS has in recent weeks offered to support the Modi government in evicting illegal migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh and put up posters warning ‘Bangladeshis’ to leave India or be driven out.
The MNS’s campaign is taking place in the backdrop of widespread protests against policies like the central government’s amended citizenship law and its proposal of a nationwide NRC – a citizens register.
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