- Chief Minister Fadnavis distanced himself from Nishikant Dubey's aggressive remark amid the Marathi row
- Dubey criticised Raj Thackeray's call to assault those refusing to speak Marathi in Maharashtra
- Dubey highlighted Jharkhand's mineral wealth and challenged Raj Thackeray's language-based aggression
Amid the intensifying language row in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has distanced himself from party colleague Nishikant Dubey's aggressive remark, and said, "what he said is not right". Mr Fadnavis, however, said the Godda MP was referring to an organisation and not Marathis.
Responding to a question on Mr Dubey's remark, Mr Fadnavis said, "He's talking about an organisation, not a Marathi. Yet, what he said is not right. It leads to different opinions. Marathi's contribution is incomparable. Marathis kept Independence alive even after foreign invasions."
Mr Dubey has sparked a row with his no-holds-barred response to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's remarks amid the 'slapgate' controversy in Maharashtra. At the centre of this row in an incident of assault in which MNS workers beat up a shopowner for refusing to speak Marathi. Commenting on the incident, Mr Thackeray asked party workers to beat those who refuse to speak Marathi, but avoid shooting videos of the such assaults.
In a scathing response, Mr Dubey said, "What are you doing, whose bread are you eating? You people are surviving on our money. What kind of industries do you have? We have all the mines in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha. What mines do you have? All semiconductor refineries are in Gujarat."
Targeting Raj Thackeray, he said, "If you have the courage to beat Hindi speakers, then beat those who speak Urdu, Tamil, and Telugu too. If you're such a 'boss', come out of Maharashtra -- come to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu. 'Tumko patak patak ke maarenge'..."
"We all respect Marathi and the people of Maharashtra, who fought for India's independence. We respect all the freedom fighters -- Chhatrapati Shivaji, Tatya Tope, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhale -- Maharashtra has contributed a lot to our freedom and independence," Mr Dubey added.
The BJP alleged that Raj Thackeray and his cousin Uddhav Thackeray, who recently reunited after a long estrangement, are manufacturing the language issue ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. "Raj and Uddhav 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," he said.
The Thackerays have hit back. Uddhav Thackeray has accused the BJP of trying to gain political mileage by a "divide and rule policy". He said he was not against any language but would oppose its imposition by force. "Divide and rule has always been the BJP's policy. This style of politics is now losing its relevance. I can understand if their party is unsettled because of the success of our rally in Mumbai on Saturday," he told reporters.
