‘Will Beat You Up In UP, Bihar’: BJP MP Dares Raj Thackeray Amid Marathi Row
A war of words has erupted over the Marathi language row, with BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Monday daring Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray to visit Uttar Pradesh or Bihar, threatening that he would be “beaten up” if he did. The inflammatory remarks have drawn sharp criticism from the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT).
Dubey’s comments came in response to recent incidents of violence by MNS workers, including the assault on a food stall owner in Thane’s Bhayandar for not speaking Marathi.
“You people are surviving on our money. What kind of industries do you have?” Dubey said in Guwahati. “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… ‘tumko patak patak ke maarenge’ (we will thrash you),” the BJP MP warned.
He accused Raj Thackeray and his cousin, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, of indulging in “cheap politics” over the Marathi language ahead of the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
The aggressive comments drew a swift and sharp rebuke from Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi. In a post on X, she questioned Dubey’s authority and asked if Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who belongs to the BJP, endorsed his party colleague’s disparaging remarks.
“Who made him the gatekeeper of Hindi? Who made him the tax keeper of India? Who made him the spokesperson of industrialists?” Chaturvedi questioned. “Does @Dev_Fadnavis ji agree with their party MP’s language with regards to the people of Maharashtra and his disparaging comments about hard-working people of the state?”
The controversy is the latest flashpoint in the state’s sensitive language politics. On Friday, Chief Minister Fadnavis had taken a balanced stand, stating that while expecting people to speak Marathi in the state was not wrong, resorting to violence was “unacceptable.”
Just last week, on July 5, Uddhav and Raj Thackeray held their first joint rally in two decades, vowing to oppose all attempts by the government to “impose” Hindi and “sideline” Marathi in the state. Dubey’s provocative challenge has now added fresh fuel to the fire.
