Mumbai: The Marathi vs Hindi tussle in Maharashtra reached the Lok Sabha Wednesday when women MPs from the state confronted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey and questioned him over his “patak patak ke marenge” remark on the Thackerays.
The three Congress MPs from Maharashtra—Varsha Gaikwad, Shobha Bachhav, Pratibha Dhanorkar—surrounded Jharkhand BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, in the Parliament lobby and asked what his controversial remarks meant. “We asked him to apologise for his behaviour and statements. He should stop defaming Maharashtra,” Varsha Gaikwad later said.
Earlier this month, amid the Hindi imposition row, MNS workers beat up a non-Marathi speaking shopkeeper in Mumbai. Soon after, Nishikant Dubey dared Uddhav and Raj Thackeray to step out of Maharashtra, warning “unko patak patak ke marenge” if they did. The BJP MP attacked the Marathi community too, saying, “You people survive on our money. What tax do you pay? What kind of industries do you have?”
On Wednesday, Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad told the media, “He (Nishikant Dubey) has created an atmosphere of hate against Maharashtra and has been continuously speaking ill of the state. This land is the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Shahu-Phule, Ambedkar, and other saints and social reformers. We were searching for him; he met us in the lobby. We asked how he could speak ill against Maharashtra? ‘Patak patak ke marenge,’ he said. We were in front of him, so who does he want to hit? Let us know.”
The three women MPs waited for Dubey Wednesday, chanting ‘Jai Maharashtra‘, according to Gaikwad. “He probably got intimidated, hurriedly said he respects Maharashtra, and left chanting ‘Jai Maharashtra’. I want to tell Maharashtra, anyone who dares to say anything about our state—even if we are in Delhi, we are the representatives of Maharashtra—we will not tolerate it,” Varsha Gaikwad added.
Pratibha Dhanorkar, another Congress MP who confronted Dubey, told the media, “Such language for the Thackerays, or for anyone in Maharashtra, will not be tolerated. Who is this Nishikant Dubey? What is his position? If he has so much courage, we dare him to come to Maharashtra and repeat such statements. Then, we will show him.”
ThePrint reached Nishikant Dubey via calls and messages, and once a response is received, the report will be updated.
What other leaders said
Earlier, Uddhav Thackeray responded to Dubey’s warning, calling him a hyena, attempting to disturb the peace and harmony of Maharashtra.
“Such ‘lakadbaghas (hyenas)’ are trying to disturb peace and harmony in the state. Their (BJP leaders’) only business is to provoke people. We are not against any language, but we oppose the use of force to impose any language,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, at the time, said.
Not just the Opposition, the remarks of Nishikant Dubey have not sat well with the Maharashtra BJP, as well, and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has called his comments “ill-advised”.
“It is inappropriate to make such comments. Its interpretation confuses the minds of people,” Fadnavis earlier said, highlighting Maharashtra’s significant contribution to the country’s GDP and lauding the historical and present-day role of Marathi people. “I feel no one can reject the contribution of Maharashtra and Marathi people in the history and present of the country. If someone is rejecting it, I feel it is wrong.”
At the time, Fadnavis also cited the bravery of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Sambhaji Maharaj and the Marathas in defending Indian culture.
Similarly, Maharashtra Culture Minister Ashish Shelar from the BJP has previously said, “Any insult to ‘Marathi manoos‘ will not be tolerated. Marathi speakers do not survive on anyone’s money.”
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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