Nishikant Dubey's Anti-Marathi Remarks Spark Political Firestorm Across Maharashtra

The BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s objectionable comments against Maharashtra and recent developments over the Marathi and Hindi row came in for sharp attack by the leaders from various political parties.

Dubey, while talking to ANI, had criticised the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for targeting Hindi-speaking people and asked why they were not doing the same to speakers of other languages.

Later, the same comments were posted by the MP on “X”. In which he said, You people are surviving on our money. What kind of industries do you have? If you are courageous enough and beat those who speak Hindi, then you should beat all those who speak Urdu, Tamil, and Telugu, Dubey said.

Sharpening his attack, the MP from Jharkhand said, If you are such a big 'boss', come out of Maharashtra, come to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu - 'tumko patak patak ke maarenge'. We all respect Marathi and the people of Maharashtra, who fought for India's independence," Dubey had said.

According to him, Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray were playing politics ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.

"The BMC election is due, and hence, Raj and Uddhav are doing cheap politics.

Later, in a post on “X” on Sunday, Dubey wrote – Those who beat Hindi-speaking people in Mumbai, if you have the guts, try beating Urdu-speaking people in Maharashtra. Even a dog becomes a lion in its own house, right? Decide for yourself who is the dog and who is the lion." He also compared Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS and NCP-SCP to terror accused Maulana Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim.

Dubey’s comments received flak on Monday, NCP-SCP MLA Rohit Pawar hit back at the BJP MP. While speaking to media persons at Vidhan Bhavan, he said, Dubey should not try to implement election strategies specific to Bihar in Maharashtra. If you speak against the state and Marathi here, it will not be accepted.

Shiv Sena UBT MLA Aaditya Thackeray accused the BJP, saying the party is trying to divide Maharashtra and pushing an anti-Marathi narrative.

Thackeray posted his comments on “X” also. According to him, divide and rule was part of the BJP's playbook. This mentality of the BJP's MP represents the entire BJP; this does not represent North India, he said, adding, Dubey was not a representative of North India. People from all over the country come to Maharashtra with dreams and hopes... Our fight is against the government, not against any language."

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State Congress Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe Patil also lashed out at the BJP MP, calling his statement foolish and misleading.

The BJP City unit chief and Minister Ashish Shelar said no questions should be raised on the efficiency of Marathi people. The entire nation knows about the contribution of Marathi people to the GDP. We can send the data to the MP also. Marathi people don’t survive on anybody’s mercy. Don’t try to provoke Marathi people, he said.

Prof. Varsha Gaikwad, the MP and the city unit chief of Congress, asked the BJP whether any action would be taken against Dubey.