Will Centre support Maha CM’s stance on compulsory Marathi: Stalin
Stalin urged PM Narendra Modi and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to clarify if the Centre officially endorsed Fadnavis’s position that no language other than Marathi is compulsory
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Monday questioned the Union government whether they “officially endorsed” Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis’s remarks on the language formula under the National Education Policy (NEP 2020).
Stalin’s remarks came hours after Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said that there is no compulsion to study Hindi.
“Facing a massive backlash for imposing Hindi as the third language, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis now claims that only Marathi is compulsory in the state. This is a clear manifestation of his trepidation over the widespread public condemnation against imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking States,” Stalin said in a post on X.
He urged PM Narendra Modi and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to clarify if the Union government officially endorsed Fadnavis’s position that no language other than Marathi is compulsory in Maharashtra as the third language under NEP. “Will the BJP-led Union government issue a clear directive to all states affirming that the NEP does not require the compulsory teaching of a third language,” he said.
“Will the Union government release ₹ 2,152 crore it unjustly withheld for Tamil Nadu on the premise that the state must subscribe to the teaching of a mandatory third language?” Stalin asked.
Since February, the ruling DMK in the southern state has been locked in an argument with Pradhan vociferously opposing the three-language policy as envisaged in the NEP calling it an alleged “Hindi imposition” move by the BJP-led Centre which has since expanded to become a key issue for the DMK ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. Tamil Nadu wants to continue its two-language formula of English and Tamil which has been in practice since 1968 in the state.
