Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray asked the people of the state to unite to popularise Marathi and make it a larger medium of communication.
Issuing a letter to mark Marathi Language Day, the MNS chief said all speakers of Marathi had to stand up for it and claimed his party had worked to have the language as a medium in business, administration and telecommunication.
The MNS has also put in efforts to ensure Marathi is granted the status of Classical Language but this struggle needs the support of the people who speak it, Thackeray said in the letter. If all Maharashtrians unite, then it will not take even a minute to have Marathi everywhere, he asserted.
Marathi Language Day is celebrated to honour the life and works of eminent poet, playwright, novelist and short story writer VV Shirwadkar, popular by his pen name Kusumagraj, and immortalised for his contribution to the language in a five-decade career through masterpieces like Vishakha.
Meanwhile, Thackeray, in response to a query, said he does not read Saamana and Marmik anymore, both publications associated with his family and for which he has contributed earlier.