Stalin Challenges Hindi Language Rule in Maharashtra: What’s Next?

On Monday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin challenged the Union government about comments made by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis regarding school languages. Fadnavis said that studying Hindi isn’t compulsory, which raised questions.

Stalin reacted to this by pointing out that the public is upset about Hindi being forced as a third language in non-Hindi speaking states. He said Fadnavis’s comments show he is worried about the backlash from the people of Maharashtra against this Hindi imposition.

Stalin asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan if the government officially supports Fadnavis’s claim that only Marathi needs to be learned as a third language in Maharashtra. He also requested the Union government to clearly state that the National Education Policy (NEP) doesn’t require all states to teach a third language.

Further, Stalin questioned why the Union government hasn’t released ₹2,152 crore to Tamil Nadu, claiming they are withholding the funds because the state doesn’t want to enforce the third-language rule. Since February, the ruling DMK party in Tamil Nadu has been strongly opposing the three-language policy from NEP, calling it a way for the BJP-led central government to impose Hindi.

The DMK wants to keep the two-language formula of Tamil and English, which has been in place since 1968, and this issue is becoming increasingly important as the state approaches its assembly elections in 2026.