Mumbai, December 2: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday told a North Indian gathering in Mumbai's Kandivali that he is not opposed to Hindi, but considers it "wrong" to accept it as the national language. The remarks comes in the backdrop of attacks carried out by his party's cadres against Hindi-speaking vendors, mostly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, in various parts of the city.

"Hindi is undoubtedly a beautiful language but it's wrong that it's the national language. Never ever was a decision made upon national language. Like there's Hindi language, there's Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, all of these are the languages of this nation," said Thackeray, while addressing the programme organised by the Uttar Bhartiya Mahapanchayat in Kandivali. Raj Thackeray Attacks Sena-BJP Govt on Tigress Avni's Killing.

The MNS supremo further justified his party's primary poll plank centred around the upliftment of marathi manoos. Thackeray said the politicians of North Indian states should also take up the cause of their respective populace with an equal vigour, which would not force them to travel thousands of miles away looking for a job.

"If there are job opportunities in Maharashtra, is it wrong that youth of Maharashtra be given first priority? If an industry is set up in UP tomorrow, then youth there should be given first preference, the same should happen in Bihar, what is wrong in it," he asked.

Notably, Thackeray's party shot to prominence in 2008 after staging several attacks on the North Indian migrants based in Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Nashik. The Thackeray scion himself faces multiple criminal cases in different parts of the nation for alleged hate speeches against the migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 02, 2018 08:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).