MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande advised Kedia to focus on his business (Image: IANS)
Maharashtra Navirman Sena (MNS) workers on Saturday vandalised the office of businessman Sushil Kedia, two days after he shared a post on his X account pledging that he won’t learn Marathi.
“Shri @RajThackeray threatening me by 100s of your workers is not going to make me a fluent Marathi speaker,” he wrote.
The remark sparked backlash from the MNS, which reposted a message from general secretary Manoj Chavan on its official X handle: “If you live in Maharashtra and act superior by not speaking Marathi, I’ll give you a tight slap!”
MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande advised Kedia to focus on his business. “Do business if you’re a businessman; don’t try to act like our father. If you insult Marathi in Maharashtra, you’ll get a slap on the ear, otherwise, stay in your lane, Mehta or whoever. That’s all for now,” Deshpande posted on X.
After Deshpande’s tweet, Kedia reached out to the police, claiming that he was getting threats on his social media post. “We contacted Kedia after he tagged Mumbai Police in his post,” a police official was quoted as saying by CNN-News18.
Meanwhile, a shop owner was also attacked in Mumbai’s Mira Road by MNS workers over purportedly declining to converse in Marathi. The assault was filmed and circulated online by the assailants.
Hundreds of shopkeepers and traders in Mira Road took to the streets on Thursday to protest the assault. Shops in large parts of Mira Road were also shut as part of the protest.
The MNS workers were detained and allowed to go after the police served notices on them, an official told PTI.
