Guess who's defending Raj Thackeray?

Urvi Mahajani, Hindustan Times


“He is fighting for the sons of the soil. He is fighting for us.”
That’s Akhilesh Choube, one of Raj Thackeray’s lawyers. He is originally from north India.

The Choubes settled in Mumbai three generations back and Akhilesh considers himself more of a Maharashtrian than a north Indian. He has studied law in Mumbai and has been a practicing lawyer for the last eight years.

Akhilesh was earlier with the Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Sena, the student wing of Shiv Sena which was headed by Raj Thackeray before he parted ways with his uncle Bal Thackeray. Being close to Raj when he was with the Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Sena, Akhilesh decided to move with him when he floated his own party — Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

“I know him since 1987 and know what kind of a human being he is,” Akhilesh told HT.

But doesn’t Raj’s anti-north Indian drive affect you? “Not at all,” pat comes the reply.

Everywhere there is politics, said Akhilesh, adding: “Even the BJP does the same in the name of Hindus and Samajwadi Party does it for the minority.”