Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s arrest on Wednesday morning and his release a few hours later — on the condition that he would return to his residence — has only served to make him a ‘hero’ in the eyes of his admirers. Some 600 MNS cadres across the state too have been detained, but they should be out in no time. It appears that the laws of the land are lenient to those who seek strength in numbers to vandalise public properties and bring a city to a standstill. With elections round the corner, the state government is least likely to take stringent action against Thackeray and his supporters. It’s the establishment’s fear of alienating the Marathi manoos — whose cause Thackeray purports to champion — that the MNS chief has exploited with impunity. Without being cynical, it can be assumed that the statewide ‘peaceful’ rasta roko on Wednesday for the abolition of toll tax is part of a carefully orchestrated poll strategy to boost Thackeray’s popularity quotient. A demagogue, he makes the most of his public rallies by whipping up fear and anger against ‘enemies’ — the migrant labourers from Bihar, UP and Bangladesh are easy targets — who have allegedly deprived the Maharashtrians of their livelihood.