Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday expressed surprise at the ‘silence’ of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his cabinet over BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s remarks on Marathi-Hindi language row. Addressing the media, Sanjay Raut appealed to Hindi-speaking leaders to condemn Nishikant Dubey’s remarks, targeting CM Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.
He said, “First of all, who is this Dubey? I appeal to the Hindi-speaking leaders here to condemn the statement made by Dubey. I will also say that you are from Maharashtra.” Raut further said, “I am surprised that the CM of Maharashtra and his cabinet are silent when a BJP MP is making statements against Marathi people. What kind of CM is he? He has no right to take the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Balasaheb Thackeray.”
He said, “Eknath Shinde, who considers himself a duplicate Shiv Sena leader, should shave off his beard. He should resign. He should go and ask Modi and Shah what is happening in Maharashtra?” Sanjay Raut’s comment came after the political controversy arising from BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s sharp reaction to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s statement.
Dubey targeted Raj Thackeray’s controversial instruction to his party workers ‘Beat but don’t make videos’ and 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. Which mines do you have? All the semiconductor refineries are in Gujarat.”
He challenged those who target Hindi-speaking people and said, “If you have the guts to beat up Hindi-speaking people, then beat up Urdu, Tamil and Telugu-speaking people too. If you are such a ‘boss’, then come out of Maharashtra – come to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu. We ‘Will beat you up’…”
Dubey further said, “We respect all Marathi and Maharashtra people 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.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, while responding to BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, said, “Whatever Nishikant Dubey has said, he has not said it for the common Marathi people, but for those organizations which have fueled this controversy.” The Chief Minister also said that he does not completely agree with Dubey’s remarks and said, “I believe that Nishikant Dubey’s statement is not completely correct.”
Along with this, the Chief Minister highlighted the important contribution of Maharashtra in the development of India and said, “No one can deny or forget the contribution of Maharashtra in the progress of the country and if someone does so, it will be completely wrong.”
