Mumbai, May 1 (IANS): As many as nearly 60 per cent of non-Marathi respondents in Mumbai have said that they have never been treated badly by local Marathis.

As per an IANS-CVoter survey, the question was posed to only those who were born outside Maharashtra.

The question posed was when you are outside your home, have you or any of your family members ever been treated badly by local Marathis?

As per the survey, 59.9 per cent said they have never been treated badly while 22.5 per cent said sometimes they have been treated badly, and 10.4 per cent said they have been often treated badly.

To another question on whether outsiders are a threat to Marathi language and culture, which was asked only to Marathis, 58.3 per cent said the outsiders are not a threat, while 25 per cent said they are a threat to a great extent, while 8.3 per cent said they are a threat to some extent.

On Maharashtra Day which falls every year on May 1, residents of the city revealed startling preferences and opinions during a survey conducted by C Voter for IANS in the last week of April.

Among the many questions asked about political, social and local issues, one was: Who do you think has been the most influential politician in Mumbai since Maharashtra became a state in 1960? While the media in Delhi seems to think that Sharad Pawar, the formidable and veteran chief of the Nationalist Congress Party, should be the pick, residents of Mumbai were of the opinion that the late Balasaheb Thackeray has been the most influential politician.

The respondents were divided into two categories: those born in Maharashtra and those born outside the state. Both categories overwhelmingly favoured Balasaheb Thackeray.

More than 46 per cent of local Marathis chose Balasaheb Thackeray while more than 50 per cent of non-Marathis picked him as their choice. Sharad Pawar, who could possibly lead the opposition challenge to Narendra Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, is nowhere close to the founder of Shiv Sena. Just about 8.4 per cent of local Marathis opted for Pawar while a meagre 4.5 per cent of non-Marathis opted for him.