Rift in INDI bloc: Tejashwi Yadav condemns DMK MP for ‘Bihar-UP’ remark

Patna: Reacting to DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran’s derogatory comments on the people of Hindi heartland states- Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said on Sunday, December 24, that if such a statement has been made then it must be condemned. 

Asserting that DMK headed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin was a party that believed in social justice just like his own RJD, Tejashwi Yadav said that it was unbecoming of a leader of such a party to have made such a remark.

"Had the DMK MP highlighted caste iniquities, had he pointed out that only people from some social groups took up such hazardous jobs, it would have made sense", said the RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. "But to speak disparagingly of the entire populace of Bihar and UP is reprehensible. We condemn it. We believe that people should be respectful towards those coming from other parts of the country,” asserted Yadav.

"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 Tejashwi Yadav, who is known to share personal equations with Stalin.

DMK MP’s demeaning remarks 

DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran allegedly said that people from the Hindi heartland were cleaning toilets and doing other menial jobs in Tamil Nadu in his speech in Tamil. He was allegedly stressing upon the importance of English education during the speech. 

Maran had claimed that those who acquired proficiency in English got respectable jobs in the IT sector unlike residents of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, who knew only Hindi and ended up migrating to richer states like Tamil Nadu for "cleaning toilets and roads and working as construction labour".

Rift in INDI alliance? 

The ruling Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, of which RJD is the largest constituent, and the DMK-helmed Secular Progressive Alliance, are now part of the INDI coalition, which aggressively asserts its plan to take over the ruling BJP in the coming parliamentary elections. However, before this the anti-Sanatan remarks of DMK leader and son of CM MK Stalin Udhayanidhi Stalin had pushed the coalition on the backfoot, especially in the Hindi-speaking states. 

(With agency inputs)