Marathi-Hindi row: Nishikant Dubey doubles down; cites 2007 'Wikileaks document' to target Raj Thackeray

NEW DELHI: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Tuesday refused to back down despite criticism for his "marenge" threat, and again targeted Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray .

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Dubey shared a "Wikileaks" document to allege that Thackeray is stoking the Marathi-Hindi row for political mileage ahead of the high-stakes municipal corporation polls in Mumbai.

"This Wikileaks is from 2007. When Raj Thackeray gets no public support, he sends his goons. His sole purpose his thuggery, and he is doing this out of fear of losing the Mumbai municipal corporation election," he wrote on X.

The Wikileaks document cited by the BJP MP from Godda in Jharkhand - a Hindi-speaking state - mentions attacks on north Indian students by MNS workers (the specific violent incident happened in 2008).


Meanwhile, Dubey further asserted that he is only objecting to Thackeray's "hooliganism."

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"All limits of tolerance have been exhausted. We respect the Maratha community... (but) the country belongs to all of us. My region gave Madhu Limaye ji, a Maratha, three successive terms in the Lok Sabha. Come to your senses, don’t make your fight about the Maratha community, we have contributed to Mumbai’s development and will continue to do so," he added.

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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is the richest civic body in India and is widely considered to be the richest civic body of Asia too.