DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran claimed Hindi speakers, migrating from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to Tamil Nadu, are mostly engaged in cleaning roads and toilets in the southern state.

New Delhi: DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran Saturday stirred a row with his derisive comments against the Hindi heartland people saying that the Hindi speakers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar usually do menial jobs like construction work and cleaning toilets in Tamil Nadu.

“Hindi-speaking people who migrate to Tamil Nadu usually do construction work and clean roads and toilets for us,” the DMK leader said while addressing a public meeting in the state, adding more fuel to the raging North-South debate which was triggered after the BJP sweeped the recently-held Assembly polls in the three Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan.

Meanwhile, the BJP latched on to Maran’s insulting comments against Hindi speakers, asking DMK’s INDIA bloc partner Nitish Kumar what his response was to the DMK leader’s rant.

“DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran says that Hindi speaking people from UP/Bihar come to Tamil Nadu and clean roads and toilets. Do Bihar Chief Ministers Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav agree with their coalition partner’s opinion on Hindi speaking people?,” Union Minister Giriraj Singh asked while sharing a clip of Maran on his X (former Twitter) handle.

“He should clarify why DMK and INDI alliance has so much hatred for Hindi speaking Bihari brothers and sisters?,” Giriraj further asked.

#DMK MP #DayanidhiMaran says that individuals from #Bihar and #UP, who only learn Hindi, migrate to TN, engage in construction work, and perform tasks like cleaning roads and 🚽 TOILETS🚽

This is depicted as a consequence of learning #Hindi. #30000கோடி_எங்கடா pic.twitter.com/9a2AzaIqeN

— Aryabhata | ஆர்யபட்டா 🕉️ (@Aryabhata99) December 23, 2023

Reports said that Dayanidhi Maran’s comments on Hindi speakers came while he was comparing people who only learn Hindi and not English. In his address, Maran asserted that English speakers land well-paying IT jobs while those who only learn Hindi– such as people from UP and Bihar– migrate to Tamil Nadu and end up as construction labourers or clean roads and toilets for a living.

He claimed that this was because they only learnt Hindi and not English.

The North vs South Debate

A north vs south debate has been raging since Congress’ victory in Telangana and the BJP’s conquest of the Hindi- heartland states in the recently held State Assembly polls, with some leaders passing derisive comments against Hindi speakers, calling north Indian states as “Gaumutra” (cow urine) states and claiming that a “clear line has been drawn” between the north and south India after the recently held elections.

Earlier this month, following the declaration of poll results, DMK leader DNV Senthilkumar S, had sparked a controversy by calling the Hindi heartland as ‘Gaumutra (cow urine) states’. The DMK MP later issued an apology after the ruling BJP had accused him of “dividing the country” into north and south.

Recently, the divide even creeped inside the INDIA bloc when Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar asked DMK leader DMK leader TR Baalu to provide an English translation of his speech during a meeting of the Opposition alliance.

“We call our country Hindustan and Hindi is our national language. We should know the language,” Nitish Kumar said even as RJD MP Manoj Jha offered to translate Baalu’s speech.