'Throw DMK Out Of I.N.D.I.A, Oppn Igniting North-South Divide': BJP Mounts Attack Over Dayanidhi's Remark
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said that the remark is a very big insult to the Hindi speakers of the country.
New Delhi: Several politicians condemned DMK Lok Sabha MP Dayanidhi Maran on Sunday after an old video in which he allegedly made insulting statements regarding workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar widely circulated on social media.
The remark led to a war of words between the BJP and Tamil Nadu's ruling Dravidian party.
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said that the remark is a very big insult to the Hindi speakers of the country. "Such statements are insulting...It is a very big insult to the Hindi speakers of the country...Those making such statements should be punished...The country is watching that people from the alliance (INDIA) are making such statements...The country will give them an answer in 2024 (general elections)," he said.
#WATCH | Delhi: On DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran's Statement, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari says, "Such statements are insulting...It is a very big insult to the Hindi speakers of the country...Those making such statements should be punished...The country is watching that people from the alliance… pic.twitter.com/KxGsRlG4aX
— ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2023
In a post on 'X', BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said that this has become a habit of the DMK 'for sure'. Many leaders one after the other make such comments and earlier they attacked Sanatan Dharma too. Further, he said: "But the reason why Congress party and other parties of INDIA alliance are not saying anything is because, perhaps, they are all in it together." Tamil Nadu BJP vice-president Naryananan Thirupathy said, though it was an old remark, it shows the 'true colours' of DMK leaders who use abusive and derogatory language against north Indians.
"It is not a matter of surprise at all. It is happening now, in the present. It has also happened in the past. The DMK will continue it in the future as well," he said.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, whose party, the RJD, is a constituent of the I.N.D.I.A bloc like the DMK, condemned the alleged remark that people from the Hindi heartland were constructing houses, cleaning roads and toilets in Tamil Nadu.
"We look upon DMK as a party which shares our ideal of social justice. Its leaders should avoid saying things that run counter to the ideal", said Yadav, who is known to share personal equations with Stalin.
What Was Dayanidhi Maran's Statement?
Addressing an event in March this year, Maran said that the study of both Tamil and English had been championed by his party all along and the people of Tamil Nadu followed it.
Citing the example of Sundar Pichai, a native of Tamil Nadu, Maran said he now heads Google, and had he learnt Hindi, he would have been employed in the construction sector as a worker.
In the video clip, Maran purportedly said that people in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who had learnt 'only Hindi,' construct houses, clean roads and toilets in Tamil Nadu, after learning Tamil. "This is the scenario if Hindi is learnt." The video clip showing Maran's alleged remark resurfaced on social media and the BJP said that the DMK MP's comment is very objectionable and has derogatory references to Hindi-speaking people. The reason for the matter cropping up now is not clear and it could not be ascertained immediately.
Tejashwi Yadav said: "Had the DMK MP highlighted caste iniquities, had he pointed out that only people from some social groups took up such hazardous jobs, it would have made sense," said the RJD leader.
"But to speak disparagingly of the entire populace of Bihar and UP is reprehensible. We condemn it. We believe that people should be respectful towards those coming from other parts of the country," asserted Yadav.
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