India, Dec. 17 -- With cousins Raj and Uddhav Thackeray set to announce an alliance for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, and Marathi identity expected to dominate the campaign, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashish Shelar on Tuesday announced that a "Marathi manoos" will be the mayor if the party comes to power in India's richest civic body.

This is the first time the BJP has made such a declaration, coming at a time when anonymous posters bearing the slogan "Marathi manasa, jaga ho!" (Wake up, Marathi people!) have popped up across Mumbai. The posters call for unity among Marathi people and warn that "Mumbai is being broken away from you".

Against this backdrop, the BJP and Shiv Sena held sea...