Shiv Sena chief and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has maintained silence on the recent row over teaching schoolchildren Hindi under the three-language education format. It looks like he is treading cautiously, for two reasons — one, he is part of the Mahayuti, and any move to oppose the policy could strain his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and, secondly, supporting the move comes with the risk of alienating his core voter base, the Marathi-speaking population. This simply means, whatever stance Shinde takes, it will certainly come at a cost for him and his party. 

The ‘Sarkari’ decision allows schools to introduce three languages in the syllabus. Though Hindi has not been made mandatory, the language finding a place in the curriculum is being seen by critics as a veiled backdoor push into Maharashtra’s classrooms. Some political parties also see the move as an attempt to dilute the prominence of Marathi in its own state.

While prominent political leaders such as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have defended the three-language policy, stating that the government has not made Hindi mandatory, as per the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, two of the three languages should be native to India, and a regional tongue is a must. This means students from Std I to V across the state will have to take up Marathi, English —an international language of communication — and Hindi or any other Indian state language.
 
The language controversy began in April and has snowballed into a bigger political debate. Raj Thackeray, chief of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), and his estranged cousin Uddhav, who heads the Shiv Sena (UBT), have opposed the decision, claiming it is an attempt to sideline Marathi and reduce its dominance. But, Shinde, so far, has not indicated whether he is in support or against the decision.