In Bihar, the BJP’s national spokesperson, Guru Prakash Paswan, told The Indian Express, “The BJP believes in both national unity and cultural diversity. Respecting the Marathi language and Maharashtra’s identity is important, but India’s spirit also dictates that every citizen should have equal opportunity anywhere in the country. We are still looking into the matter as it is currently at an evolving stage.”
Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, the national spokesperson for BJP ally JD(U), said, “The Maharashtra government’s decision might be helpful to local residents, but a large number of non-Marathi people, including taxi drivers, have lived there for years. These taxi drivers must be given adequate time to learn Marathi.”
Sanjay Nishad, a minister in the UP government and chief of the NISHAD party, an NDA ally, said, “Knowing a regional language is one thing and making it mandatory is another. If the government wants to bring such rules, then an arrangement should first be made to train them in the regional language. Still, such restrictions are not right. They disturb harmony.”
Last month, Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik had said that starting May 1, Marathi would be compulsory for all licensed auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers. He had warned that those who are unable to read, write or speak the language might risk losing their licences.
However, the state government last week announced a 100-day verification and enforcement drive for the Marathi mandate, effectively giving operators time to comply before stricter measures are considered. The announcement followed discussions with auto and taxi unions, which had sought more time to implement the requirement and opposed any move to introduce reading and writing tests. According to the minister, there was broad agreement on the need for “functional Marathi”, with the government adopting a phased approach centred on training.
The opposition parties in both Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were more direct in their criticism. Rajya Sabha MP and RJD national spokesperson Manoj Kumar Jha said, “We find these kinds of dictatorial orders very bizarre. Languages do not fight; people doing politics with languages do. In fact, languages enrich each other. Imposing a particular language on taxi drivers from other states disrupts their natural flow of communication.”
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Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Rajesh Kumar said, “The Maharashtra government’s order is against our federal structure and the basic tenets of fundamental rights provided by our Constitution. Such orders only provoke regionalist sentiments. However, the BJP has long been engaged in the politics of religion and region.”
As per the Economic Survey of India (2016-17) and subsequent updates in the Periodic Labour Force Survey, Bihar and UP account for 37 per cent of the country’s workforce.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and Veteran Samajwadi Party leader, Mata Prasad Pandey, called it an unnecessary imposition that could hurt migrant workers and demanded that it be done away with altogether.
Pandey represents Itwa Assembly Constituency in Sidharthanagar district of Eastern UP, from where a large number of migrant labourers head to Maharashtra.
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He said that while many long-term migrants have picked up functional Marathi, younger workers are still learning. “Yeh kamzor varg ke log hain, unpar bhasha ko zabardasti thopna theek nahi, is tarah bhasha thopna unhe tod dega (these are people from the weaker section of the society; language should not be forced on them. Forcing it in this manner would break them),” he cautioned.
Pandey said that around one lakh voters from his constituency work in Maharashtra in different capacities, with many of them engaged as taxi drivers.
Anil Yadav, general secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, who hails from Azamgarh, said, “From our region, from every village, hundreds of young men go to Maharashtra. Most of them work as taxi or auto drivers. If such rules are imposed, it will adversely affect not just them but also their families.”
“Discrimination on the basis of language is dangerous. A person may work in Maharashtra, but their entire family in eastern Uttar Pradesh depends on that income — from their children’s education to their parents’ medical needs,” he said.
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Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra said, “India is a country of diversity — people of every dialect, language, and culture live here, and each should respect the other’s culture. This diversity is the strength of our unity.”
