Tejashwi Yadav condemns Dayanidhi Maran’s alleged derogatory remark on workers from UP, Bihar

Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav has condemned the alleged derogatory remark made months ago by DMK Lok Sabha MP Dayanidhi Maran on workers hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. 

Yadav said, like his party, the RJD, the DMK headed by Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, was a party that believed in social justice and it was unbecoming of a leader of such a party to have made such a remark.

“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.

Yadav’s comments came after BJP questioned the ‘silence’ of parties that constitute the opposition alliance INDIA bloc. Both RJD and DMK are part of the INDIA bloc.

A video clip of an alleged remark was widely circulated on social media on Sunday, which led to a war of words between the BJP and Tamil Nadu's ruling party.

In March this year at an event, Maran said that study of both Tamil and English had been championed by his party all along and the people of Tamil Nadu followed it.

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.”

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.

On the Maran's alleged remark, the BJP said that his comment is very objectionable and has derogatory references to Hindi-speaking people.

Tamil Nadu BJP vice president Naryananan Thirupathy said that though it was an old remark, it shows the “true colours” of DMK leaders who use abusive and derogatory language against north Indians.