Mumbai: In the latest political clash amid the language controversy, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nishikant Dubey on Monday slammed Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray for his “hit below their eardrum” advice to his party workers targeting non-Marathi speakers.
Lok Sabha MP Dubey didn’t take a name, but dared the ‘bahut bade boss’ to come out of Maharashtra, saying, “Tumko patak patak ke maarenge (we will thrash you badly).”
Raj, who shared stage with Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday following a reunion of the cousins after two decades, told his party workers at the mega rally — to celebrate Maharashtra government’s rollback of the three-language policy in primary schools –to beat those who don’t speak Marathi in Maharashtra without recording videos of such incidents.
Dubey dared the MNS leader to also beat those who speak Urdu, Tamil or Telugu.
“If you are courageous enough and beat those who speak Hindi, then you should beat all those who speak Urdu, Tamil, and Telugu. If you are such a big boss, come out of Maharashtra, come to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu – ‘tumko patak patak ke maarenge’. This anarchy won’t work,” Dubey said.
Dubey hit out at the Thackeray brothers, terming their reunion ahead of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election as ‘cheap politics’.
“You are saying that people will have to speak Marathi. Whose roti (bread) you are eating? There are Tata, Birla and Reliance, they are not unique to Maharashtra. Tata established its first factory here (in Bihar). You people are surviving on our money,” Dubey lashed out.
“We all respect Marathi and the people of Maharashtra, who fought for India’s independence. The BMC election is due, and hence, Raj and Uddhav Thackeray are doing cheap politics. If they have courage, they should go to Mahim and beat any Hindi or Urdu speaking people in front of Mahim dargah, then I will consider them true ancestors of Balasaheb Thackeray,” Dubey said.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi was quick to react to Dubey’s remark.
“Who made him the gatekeeper of Hindi? Who made him the tax keeper of India? Who made him the spokesperson of industrialists? Who made him the decision maker of what other party leaders should be doing?” Chaturvedi said.
She also asked if Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis agrees with his party MP’s language.
“Does @Dev_Fadnavis ji agree with their party MP’s language with regards to people of Maharashtra and his disparaging comments about hard working people of the state? Does @Dev_Fadnavis ji agree to Ashish Shelar comparing Marathi Hindus to terrorists of Pahalgam?” Cjhaturvedi posted on X.
