Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey's social media post on the Marathi language debate stirred a political row in Maharashtra. On Thursday, the BJP leader said that his statements were manipulated by political leaders. While speaking to reporters in Gangtok, Sikkim, he said, "There is something which I said and which has been destroyed—Maharashtra has a great contribution to the economy of this country. "What I said was misconstrued by people," he said.
Dubey also took a snatching attack on pro-Marathi political parties, including Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena UBT. He challenged them to go and beat the industrialists and people in the Muslim majority area.
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"You beat up the poor. But rich people lives there, he speaks very less Marathi. If you have guts, go to him. Mahim has a large Muslim population, if you have guts - go there. SBI chairman doesn't speak Marathi, try hitting him," said Dubey.
“Maharashtra has a great contribution to the economy of this country. But what I am saying is that we, too, have a contribution to the tax paid by Mumbai or Maharashtra. This has nothing to do with the Thackeray family or Maratha,” the MP said.
Dubey, a Lok Sabha member from Jharkhand, noted that both the State Bank of India and the Life Insurance Corporation, which are paying taxes, have their headquarters in Mumbai. “I am standing in Sikkim, people here also deposit their money in SBI. Their money is there too. But its tax money goes into Maharashtra's account,” he claimed.
The language row erupted in Maharashtra on July 1 when a sweet shop owner was assaulted by MNS workers for not speaking Marathi in Mira Road, Mumbai suburbs. A video of the incident went viral, leading to a protest by non-Marathi speakers. The market was shut for one day in protest against the assault on the shopkeeper, seeking action against the attackers.
Looking at this, Dubey took to X to criticizes attackers by saying, "To those beating Hindi speakers in Mumbai, if you have the courage, try beating Urdu speakers in Maharashtra. Even a dog is a tiger in its own home. Decide for yourself who is the dog and who is the tiger," he stated.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis termed Dubey’s comments "ill-advised" and warned that they could sow "confusion in people's minds."