Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 8 (ANI): Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday expressed surprise over the 'silence' of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his cabinet over BJP MP Nishikant Dubey's remarks amid the Marathi-Hindi language.

Addressing the media, Sanjay Raut appealed to the Hindi-speaking leaders to condemn Nishikant Dubey's remark while firing shots at CM Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.

'Firstly, who is this Dubey? I appeal to the Hindi-speaking leaders here to condemn the statement given by Dubey. Only then will I say that you are from Maharashtra. I am surprised that the Maharashtra CM and his Cabinet are silent when a BJP MP is giving statements against the Marathi people. What kind of CM is he? He has no right to take the names of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Balasaheb Thackeray,' Sanjay Raut said.

'Eknath Shinde, who considers himself the leader of the duplicate Shiv Sena, should cut off his beard. He must resign. He should go and ask Modi and Shah about what is happening in Maharashtra,' he added.

Sanjay Raut's remark came in the wake of a political row triggered by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey's sharp response to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's statement.

Addressing Raj Thackeray's controversial instruction to his party workers, 'beat but don't make a video,' Dubey lashed out, saying, 'What are you doing, whose bread are you eating? You people are surviving on our money. What kind of industries do you have? We have all the mines in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha. What mines do you have? All semiconductor refineries are in Gujarat.'

He went on to challenge those targeting Hindi-speaking individuals and said, 'If you dare to beat Hindi speakers, then beat those who speak Urdu, Tamil, and Telugu too. If you're such a 'boss', come out of Maharashtra--come to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu. 'Tumko patak patak ke maarenge'...'

Dubey further said, 'We all respect Marathi and the people of Maharashtra, who fought for India's independence. We respect all the freedom fighters -- Chhatrapati Shivaji, Tatya Tope, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhale -- Maharashtra has contributed a lot to our freedom and independence.'

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis responded to BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and said, 'Whatever Nishikant Dubey has said, he has not said it for the common Marathi people, but for those organisations which have fuelled this controversy,' Fadnavis said.

The Chief Minister, however, also said that he did not completely agree with the content of Dubey's remarks and said, 'I believe that Nishikant Dubey's statement was not completely correct.'

The Chief Minister further highlighted the crucial contribution of Maharashtra to India's growth and said, 'No one can deny or forget the contribution of Maharashtra in the progress of the country, and if someone does so, it would be completely wrong.' (ANI)