Seeking to draw a clear distinction between the actions of workers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and a former MP from her party and those of the MLA of Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena who assaulted a canteen worker over the quality of dal, Priyanka Chaturvedi, an MP from the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Sena, said comparing them would be wrong. Speaking exclusively to NDTV on Wednesday, the Rajya Sabha MP said the law had followed its course in the case of the assault of a shopkeeper by MNS workers for asking why speaking in Marathi should be compulsory while MLA Sanjay Gaikwad, who assaulted a worker in the canteen of the MLAs’ hostel in Mumbai, would go scot-free. “The person who is beating the canteen worker is an elected representative of Maharashtra. He’s an MLA, which comes with a whole lot of responsibility, and that responsibility and maturity should have come from him. And it’s also different simply because Eknath Shinde’s faction has been repeatedly indulging in this. If you remember, when stand-up comic Kunal Kamra had cracked a joke about Mr Shinde, a group of people had gone and broken down the studio, which was a means of livelihood for several people, several other stand-up comedians,” she argued. The assault on a shopkeeper in Mira-Bhayender near Mumbai, she said, wasn’t about language, but “disrespect”. “There was an incident which went out of hand and there was a law-and-order mechanism which was followed. These people were detained and they were booked under some sections which were bailable and they got bail… In this particular case, you will not even have an FIR against this man, who is an elected representative. In this particular case, there will be no one to speak up against him… he will get away scot-free… I am not trying to justify anything, I am just trying to make you aware of the difference,” Ms Chaturvedi said. ‘Situation Escalated’ On Rajan Vichare, former MP from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), at whose office some traders were slapped for allegedly not speaking in Marathi, Ms Chaturvedi said the incident had nothing to do with language. A Shiv Sena (UBT) worker, she claimed, had been beaten up because he asked for a prepaid mobile connection and Mr Vichare had called the attackers to his office to ask them why they had done so. The situation, she said, “escalated” and emphasised that Mr Vichare’s constituency has a large north Indian population, which is something he celebrates. Thackeray Reunion MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray shared a stage last week, the Rajya Sabha MP said, because the BJP-led Maharashtra government had issued a government resolution (GR) making Hindi as a third-language compulsory in the state from Class 1. “The argument was why should a language be made compulsory and if Maharashtra is going to get Hindi as a compulsory third language, what is the third language in states which are Hindi-speaking? And the BJP was pressurised not just by political parties, but various people, various sections were also outraged about this. That imposing a language is not the right way of ensuring that people learn the language,” Ms Chaturvedi said. “When the GR was taken back, that is when both brothers came on stage for that particular issue. Please understand, even I am Hindi speaking, we are not against the language. We have an entire Hindi film industry working out of Mumbai. We have an entire Hindi television industry working out of Mumbai. Out of 12 crore people in the state of Maharashtra, over one crore come from various states that are Hindi-speaking. Why is it that one or two incidents are raising so many eyebrows against one crore people happily coexisting with the people of Maharashtra. So, one or two incidents could also be due to a lot of provocation,” she pointed out. (This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world