Amid the ongoing language row in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has asserted Marathi's primacy in the State, saying, 'Here, Marathi is spoken first, then Hindi," reported news agency ANI.

"Here, Marathi is spoken first, then Hindi; this is Shahu, Phule and Ambedkar's Maharashtra," Ajit Pawar told reporters in Mumbai on Thursday.

"After leaving their mother tongue, people speak Hindi outside the state and then speak English. If those living here cannot speak Marathi, they should say that they do not know Marathi; we respect them, nothing like this will happen," he added, reported ANI.