The battle lines over language have been drawn in Maharashtra. Uddhav Thackeray on Friday drew a line in the sand, declaring he would block any move to force Hindi on the state’s primary school students.
His defiant stand comes just a day after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis doubled down on his plan to push through the controversial three-language model as part of the 2020 National Education Policy.
Uddhav pushed back sharply.
“We do not oppose any language, including Hindi,” he said. “But we will never accept the imposition of Hindi in primary education.”
Speaking to reporters as the monsoon session of the legislative assembly ended, Uddhav criticized the government for what he described as a needless disruption of the state’s linguistic harmony.
“Maharashtra has long been a place where people speak many languages and live together peacefully,” he said. “Why provoke unrest now by bringing this up?”
He also noted that during his tenure as chief minister between 2019 and 2022, his government had received the NEP but chose not to enforce the three-language rule.
Taking aim at the chief minister directly, Uddhav quipped that Devendra Fadnavis should “first understand NEP 2020 properly before reading it out to others.”
On the recent alliance with his cousin and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Uddhav insisted it was rooted in their shared commitment to Marathi. “We came together for Marathi and will remain together for Marathi,” he said. But whether that unity leads to a formal political alliance remains uncertain. “When the local body polls are announced, we’ll talk about it,” he added.
The conversation also turned to the state’s finances. Uddhav expressed concern over growing debt, estimating that Maharashtra now pays ₹64,000 crore in interest alone.
He questioned how the government planned to fund its social schemes. “What about your ‘Ladke Bhau-Bahin’ (beloved brother-sister) projects? No one is giving any answers,” he said.
Uddhav also criticized legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar for not appointing a leader of the opposition. “The session is over, and still no decision. That’s disappointing,” he said.
Maharashtra’s language policy remains contentious as elections near. The government cites national standards, but opponents call it cultural overreach. It’s unclear how voters will respond.
