On July 5, Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’, Bhojpuri film actor and former BJP MP from Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh), challenged anyone in Maharashtra to throw him out because he did not speak Marathi. He was trying to turn the tables on Shiv Sena and MNS’ Uddhav and Raj Thackeray with regard to Marathi versus North Indians and Gujaratis. Saying that no one should indulge in such dirty politics, the actor remarked, “The beauty of India is its unity in diversity. No one should do such dirty politics. I am a politician and an actor. Politics must be for the good of the people. Main Marathi nahin bolta. Kisi mein dum hai toh mujhe Maharashtra se nikaal ke dikhaaye (I do not speak Marathi. I challenge anyone to throw me out of Maharashtra).”
It may be mentioned here that estranged cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray joined political forces over the “imposition” of Hindi in schools and forced BJP chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to withdraw two government resolutions that permitted Hindi to be taught in schools from Class I as a third language. Dinesh Lal Yadav’s outburst is the result of the ongoing war between Marathi manoos and North Indians vis-à-vis the Hindi versus Marathi language debate.
