India, July 19 -- Raj Thackeray of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey's war of words over the 'Hindi vs Marathi' debate has snowballed into a major political storm in Maharashtra.

Their aggressive remarks - from Raj Thackeray's "Mumbai ke samandar me dubo dubo ke maarenge (we'll thrash you repeatedly in Mumbai ocean)" to Dubey's "Marathi logo ko patak-patak ke marenge" (we'll thrash Marathi speakers mercilessly) - have sparked sharp criticism, even from within the BJP alliance.

The language row intensified after the Maharashtra government revoked two GRs (government resolutions) that had introduced Hindi as a compulsory third language in primary schools, after the Opposition's protes...