Maharashtra: Uddhav Thackeray meets CM Devendra Fadnavis amid language row

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Amid the ongoing row over the imposition of Hindi in primary schools, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray met with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday. The meeting, which lasted for approximately 20 minutes, was held in the office of Legislative Council Chairman Ram Shinde. According to the Shiv Sena (UBT), Thackeray.

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Amid the ongoing row over the imposition of Hindi in primary schools, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray met with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday.

The meeting, which lasted for approximately 20 minutes, was held in the office of Legislative Council Chairman Ram Shinde.

According to the Shiv Sena (UBT), Thackeray met the Chief Minister to hand over a compilation of news articles opposing the introduction of Hindi as a third language in Maharashtra, citing concerns of alleged linguistic imposition.

Earlier, Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief clarified that his party is not against the Hindi language but accused certain groups of comparing Marathi people to terrorists and undermining Marathi identity.

The meeting came a day after the Maharashtra Chief Minister took a veiled dig at Uddhav Thackeray, inviting him to join the treasury benches (ruling side) in the Vidhan Parishad, stating that his government doesn’t have any “scope” to come into Opposition until 2029.
Fadnavis was speaking on the occasion of Uddhav Thackeray’s farewell from the Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad.

“At least till 2029, there is no scope for us to come there (Opposition). Uddhav Ji can think about the scope of coming to this side (ruling party) and that can be thought about in a different way, but there is absolutely no scope left for us to come there (Opposition),” Fadnavis said.

On July 5, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) held a joint rally called ‘Awaaz Marathicha’ at the Worli Dome in Mumbai. The event marked the first time in nearly twenty years that Uddhav and Raj Thackeray shared the stage. The rally came after the Maharashtra government scrapped two Government Resolutions (GRs) that aimed to introduce Hindi as a third compulsory language.

The now-withdrawn orders, related to the implementation of the three-language formula in state schools, had triggered widespread protests from Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS, and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction).