No linguistic controversies please: Maharashtra BJP

Nagpur, Sep 9 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Maharashtra unit Tuesday disapproved of attempts to rake up linguistic controversies in the state, saying the row betweeb Jaya Bachchan and Raj Thackeray should be laid to rest.

Reacting to Bollywood actress Jaya Bachchan's recent insistence on speaking in Hindi since she belonged to Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena-led agitation against it, the BJP's Maharashtra unit president Nitin Gadkari said that while Jaya should have been more circumspect, the MNS should refrain from carrying out divisive politics.

"Would it be right for a Maharashtrian in Uttar Pradesh to insist on speaking in Marathi at a public function there?" Gadkari told IANS, adding the controversy should be laid to rest now that the actress has expressed regrets.

Senior litterateur and former Vidarbha Sahitya Sangh president Ram Shewalkar, however, said the MNS served Jaya right as her statement was deliberately provocative.

"Maharashtra has had a tradition to tolerate insults and assaults on its self-respect and the intellectuals here have a habit of defending non-Maharashtrians doing it", Shewalkar told IANS.

"There would have been no problem if Jaya had simply spoken in Hindi. What has triggered angry reaction was her mischievous statement, 'hum UP wale hein, Hindi mein baat karenge' (We will speak in Hindi since we belong to Uttar Pradesh)," Shewalkar said.