Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 5 (ANI): Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Saturday said that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray should tell his party workers that bullying common citizens is not right, adding that Devendra Fadnavis' government should take action against such people, and they should be punished.

'Love for Marathi can be understood, but the feeling of opposing the Hindi language is not right. Raj Thackeray should tell MNS workers that bullying is not right. Bullying can be answered with bullying. Beating someone is wrong. The Devendra Fadnavis government should take action against such people, and they should be punished,' Athawale told ANI.

Earlier, at a joint rally alongside Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray advised his party workers to exercise restrain while dealing with citizens who refuse to speak Marathi, however, 'if someone shows useless drama' then he advised them to hit them below their eardrums.

'Be it Gujarati or anyone else here, must know Marathi, but there is no need to beat people for that if they don't speak Marathi. But if someone shows useless drama, you must hit below their eardrums. I tell you one more thing: if you beat someone, don't make a video of the incident. Let the person beaten up tell that he has been beaten up, you don't need to tell everyone that you have beaten someone,' he said.

Athawale also claimed that the reunion of the Thackeray brothers would only cause an electoral loss to the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

'Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray have come together; this is a very good thing. This will benefit the Mahayuti more, because there will be a division in the Maha Aghadi. The Mahayuti will also get more than sixty per cent of Marathi votes in BMC elections...' he said.

Shiv Sena leader Shaina NC said that the Thackeray brothers have reunited only for the political posturing and there is nothing significant about this development.

'After 20 years, the Thackeray brothers have come together, and good luck to them, but it is nothing but political posturing. Do understand that for every election where Uddhav Thackeray has fought, there has been an alliance that he's formed and broken. This is a characteristic of a chameleon... People feel betrayed because, for the sake of power, Uddhav Thackeray and these alliances have been anti-Hindu. Do understand that Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray had a philosophy and ideology. This is only convenience and posturing by two unreliable parties...' she said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said that he must be receiving the blessings of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray after the estranged Thackeray cousins, Uddhav and Raj, shared the public stage for the first time in nearly 20 years.

The remarks of the Maharashtra Chief Minister came in response to Raj Thackeray's veiled attack on the former, where the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief stated, 'What Balasaheb could not do, Devendra Fadnavis did it'.

'I express my gratitude to Raj Thackeray that he gave me the credit for the coming together of both the brothers; I must be getting the blessings of Balasaheb Thackeray. I was told that there would be a victory rally, but there was also a speech of 'rudaali'. Not a single word was spoken about Marathi... The Mumbai Municipal Corporation was under their control for 25 years. Still, they did not do any work that could be shown,' Chief Minister said.

'We changed the face of Mumbai under the leadership of PM Modi. They are jealous of the work we did for Mumbai, but the public knows everything, and everyone is on our side,' he added.

On the language row brewing up in the state, CM Fadnavis said that the ideology of Hindutva takes everyone.

'We are Marathi, we are proud of being Marathi, we are proud of the Marathi language, but at the same time, we are also Hindus; our Hindutva takes everyone along,' he said.

Reacting to a viral video from Maharashtra's Thane district showing a shop owner being assaulted allegedly for not speaking in Marathi, Union Minister Chirag Paswan strongly condemned the incident.

Speaking to reporters in Vaishali on Friday, Bihar, Paswan said, 'It is beyond my understanding how many divisions will be created among Indians -- sometimes in the name of region, sometimes language, religion, or caste.'While advocating for pride in one's mother tongue, the minister urged for sensitivity and mutual respect. (ANI)