The Day Maharashtra Was Born: May 1 And Blood-Soaked Legacy Of Samyukta Maharashtra Movement
Maharashtra Day History: On May 1, 1960, Maharashtra officially came into existence — after a relentless agitation that cost 106 lives, saw a massive uprising of the working class, and permanently altered India’s map and politics. That’s why May 1 is celebrated not just as Labour Day, but also as Maharashtra Day.
The demand for a state based on linguistic identity, with Mumbai as its capital, brought together a wide ideological spectrum — communists, Congressmen, socialists, artists, and everyday citizens.
In his book The Cousins Thackeray, senior journalist Dhaval Kulkarni has chronicled how this mass movement, born out of cultural pride and working-class mobilisation, led to the birth of the state and political legacies that continue to shape Maharashtra.
Marathi Pride, History, And Cultural Assertion
Kulkarni writes: “With its evocation of iconography and imagery, the politics and sociology of Maharashtra are intricately linked to history. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s rebellion against the Mughal Empire shook its foundations and eventually led to its disintegration. Under the reign of the peshwas, the Maratha confederacy ruled most of India.”
The idea of a distinct Maharashtrian identity was deeply rooted. Marathi author and satirist Acharya Pralhad Keshav Atre is quoted in the book as saying, “…only Maharashtra has history, the rest have just geography.” It’s this imagery that nativist parties like the Shiv Sena and MNS have continued to use in modern politics to invoke Marathi Asmita.
Linguistic States And The Andhra Precedent
Kulkarni’s book also traces the wider national context. The Congress had initially supported linguistic provinces in pre-Independence India, but after Partition, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru became wary of further divisions.
However, when Potti Sriramalu, a Gandhian, died during a hunger strike demanding Andhra Pradesh, it forced the Centre’s hand. Andhra became India’s first linguistic state in 1953, opening the floodgates for other such demands — including in Maharashtra.
The Mumbai Question
The most contentious part of the Maharashtra statehood demand was Mumbai. The city was ethnically and linguistically diverse. As Kulkarni explains, Marathi speakers made up just 43.6% of Mumbai’s population in 1951, down from over 50% in 1881. Gujaratis, Parsis, Urdu speakers, and others formed large parts of the population.
A Bombay Citizens Committee — which included elite industrialists like JRD Tata, lawyers, doctors, and scholars — opposed the city’s inclusion in Maharashtra. Their argument: Mumbai was too cosmopolitan, too economically vital, and too physically detached from the Marathi heartland.
But for the working-class Maharashtrians who staffed the textile mills in areas like Parel, Lalbaug, and Byculla (known as Girangaon), Mumbai was the heart of Maharashtra. It was where they lived, struggled, and envisioned their future.
Comrade Dange And The Workers’ Might
The agitation found a formidable leader in Comrade Shripad Amrut Dange, a founder of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and a giant in India’s trade union movement. Workers under his leadership became the backbone of the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti (SMS).
On November 21, 1955, nearly 4 lakh workers from the city’s mills, ports, and municipal services went on strike. As protestors marched to the Oval Maidan, police opened fire — killing 15 and injuring 300. These were the first martyrs of the Samyukta Maharashtra struggle.
From that point on, the movement was guided by the rousing slogan given by Dange: “Mumbai sahit Samyukta Maharashtra zhalach pahije” (Samyukta Maharashtra must be formed including Mumbai).
When The Thackerays Joined The Fight
Among the cultural leaders in the movement was Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, better known as ‘Prabodhankar’ Thackeray — a fiery writer, social reformer, and orator. His son, Balasaheb Thackeray, was a 28-year-old cartoonist when he courted controversy by drawing an unflattering cartoon of then chief minister Morarji Desai, who opposed Maharashtra’s formation. Published in the magazine Mumbai, it led to police action against Thackeray.
As Kulkarni notes, Bal Thackeray’s early brush with politics and identity-based agitation laid the foundation for what would later become the Shiv Sena, formed in 1966 to assert the rights of the Marathi Manoos.
Struggle, Resistance, And A New State
The Centre tried to placate both sides. In 1956, it proposed three new states — Gujarat, Maharashtra, and bilingual Bombay. This led to fresh protests and arrests of left leaders including Dange. Violence broke out again. Eventually, in 1959, the Congress Working Committee resolved to form Maharashtra with Mumbai as its capital.
In a telling detail from Kulkarni’s book, Dange is quoted as insisting that the state be inaugurated on May 1, not April 1. The reason? May Day was symbolic of the workers’ struggle and sacrifice.
What Maharashtra Gained — And What It Lost
On May 1, 1960, the state of Maharashtra was born. But not all aspirations were fulfilled. Marathi-speaking regions like Belgaum, Karwar, Nippani, and Dang were left out — an emotional and political wound that persists.
Still, as Kulkarni concludes, the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement remains the most widespread mass agitation in post-Independence Maharashtra. It brought together leftists, cultural icons, and common citizens. And it birthed not only a state, but also a political ethos rooted in identity, resistance, and pride.
As we say today: Jai Maharashtra.
Kirti Pandey is a senior independent journalist.
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