Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS — a regional political party in Maharashtra, western India) chief Raj Thackeray cautioned his party members on 6 September to resist religious tensions that he said are being deliberately stoked through social media to distract the public from economic problems, including what he described as the closure of over 500 companies in India since 2021. Speaking at a party meeting in Thane, he expressed particular concern that the upcoming Ganesh festival could be exploited to trigger communal riots, and called on both Hindu and Muslim communities to remain vigilant. The remarks came amid a criminal case filed against his son, Amit Thackeray, over the alleged removal of a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a government institution in Pune.