Red-faced after botched Marathi speech, Maha assembly Speaker apologises

Mumbai: In a city where Marathi ‘asmita’ (pride) remains an election issue, state assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar apologised on Wednesday after he put himself in an embarrassing position by mispronouncing several Marathi words while reading out condolence messages in the legislature.

Even more glaring, in a condolence message for renowned singer Asha Bhosale, he referred to her father, musician Deenanath Mangeshkar, as Deendayal Mangeshkar.Narwekar, who is a Maharashtrian elected from South Mumbai, claimed the mistakes occurred owing to technical errors in a written speech which he had read out. The speech saw Narwekar pause repeatedly as he struggled to pronounce words.“In the condolence messages I read out on Monday, the font of printed speech was very small and slightly unclear.

As a result, there were some technical mistakes,” he clarified to the assembly.He also apologized for the mix-up regarding Deenanath Mangeshkar. “This was a mistake and unintentional,” he said. He ended by saying, “If anyone’s sentiments were hurt in the assembly by the speech in the legislature, I tender a heartfelt apology.”He said he had successfully handled legislative proceedings in Marathi for the last 4.5 years as Speaker and that he took pride in the language.

“Each person in the legislature and the state takes pride in the language. I have as much pride, if not more than them,” he said.The speech had led to a backlash from pro-Marathi parties, led by Raj Thackeray’s MNS, who said Narwekar had butchered Marathi and should have spoken in Hebrew or Swahili instead.“After seeing that he could not even read the Marathi written out for him on paper, both anger and dismay welled up in me. Did they stuff a vada pav down the paper before he tried reading it?” asked Thackeray on X.

He also asked why not one MLA raised an objection when Narwekar referred to Deenanath Mangeshkar as Deendayal Mangeshkar.Taking a dig at chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, he said, “Fadnavis who croons songs like ‘Gulabi Aankhen Jo Teri Dekhi’ (in his own off-key rendition) should have realised what it takes to pay tribute in the state assembly.”Stating that the Centre wanted to impose Hindi on the state, Raj said, “Narwekar did not move a condolence motion for Ashatai’s passing but for the death of the Marathi language itself.”Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut demanded that Narwekar step down as Speaker. “I would have thrown a paperweight at him to express my protest” Raut said.Raut asked if Narwekar was Norwegian. “The fact that the person sitting as Speaker of the legislative assembly cannot speak Marathi is a very serious issue for Maharashtra. Is he Norwegian or resident of the European ‘Norway’? Is he a foreign citizen?” Raut asked.He asked how the state could expect rickshaw drivers to know Marathi when the Speaker did not. “A law is made so that even rickshaw drivers should know Marathi, the CM says that Marathi is mandatory in the state. But the Speaker he appointed does not know Marathi,” Raut said.