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Amid the political sparring between the ruling Mahayuti government and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra over the Hindi imposition charge, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's concluding "Jai Gujarat" remarks during his speech on Friday raised several eyebrows.
Shinde was speaking in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the inauguration ceremony of the 'Jairaj Sports and Convention Centre' built by the Shree Poona Gujarati Bandhu Samaj in Pune's Kondhwa. The Deputy CM, concluding his speech with "Jai Gujarat", seems to have landed him in trouble amid the Hindi imposition charge by the opposition. "Aapke buland irado se to chattane bhi dagmagati hain, Dushman kya cheez hai, tufaan bhi apna rukh badal deta hai. Apke ane se yahan ki hawa ka noor badal jata hai, apke naam se harek shaqs adab se jhuk jata hai," Shinde recited these couplets in honour of Amit Shah while wrapping up his speech with "Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra...Jai Gujarat". Earlier, the Maharashtra government withdrew its April 16 orders on the implementation of the three-language policy that made Hindi a "mandatory" third language for school students in Classes 1 to 5 studying in English and Marathi medium schools. This development followed a heavy backlash from various groups and political parties. Informing about the cancellation of the resolutions that were passed on April 16 and June 17, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that a committee will be formed to discuss the implementation of the three-language formula in the state. The committee will be headed by former Rajya Sabha MP Narendra Jadhav. "A committee under Dr Narendra Jadhav will be formed to discuss the implementation of the three-language formula in the state... Until the committee submits its report, both government resolutions (of April 16 and June 17) have been cancelled by the government," Fadnavis said. As this happened, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray said that the government resolutions were cancelled solely due to the pressure from the Marathi people. Amid the ongoing monsoon session of the Maharashtra legislative assembly, MVA leaders on Monday held a protest against the state government within the assembly premises. Following the protest, NCP SP MLA Rohit Pawar stated that the resolution was withdrawn only after Marathi journalists and social organisations united. (ANI)
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