India, July 5 -- Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday claimed that all Hindi-speaking states were "behind" Maharashtra, asking why then was the state "being forced to learn Hindi".

His remarks came at the joint rally in Mumbai's Worli, that he addressed alongside his cousin and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, after a political rivalry of 20 years.

"All the Hindi-speaking states are behind us, and we are ahead of all Hindi-speaking states; still, we are being forced to learn Hindi. Why?" the MNS chief asked.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Hindustan Times....