Fadnavis Hits Back At Stalin Over NEP Opposition: ‘First Study What It Is’

A war of words has erupted between Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin over the National Education Policy (NEP), with Fadnavis urging Stalin to better understand the policy before seeking clarifications from the Prime Minister.

Responding to Stalin’s criticism on social media, Fadnavis fired back, saying, “Mr. Stalin, before seeking clarifications from Hon PM Narendra Modi ji, you need a deep understanding of the National Education Policy. First, you need to study what exactly NEP is!”. He also shared a government link for the full policy document: https://education.gov.in/national-education-policy.

Fadnavis emphasised that the NEP does not mandate any specific language but encourages the learning of any two Indian languages besides English, asserting that Maharashtra remains flexible in its language choices.

“As far as Maharashtra is concerned, we are open to Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit, or any language of the student’s choice as the third language,” he added. “The main question is—why are you not open to multilingualism and have a problem if someone wants to study in Hindi?”

Mr. Stalin,
Before seeking clarifications from Hon PM Narendra Modi ji, you need a deep understanding of National Education Policy.
First you need to study what exactly NEP is !
Here is link for your ref - https://t.co/BXshh6G5Bw#NEP never insisted or made compulsion on… https://t.co/fRHZqvYsIl

— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) April 22, 2025

Stalin's Comment On Fadnavis 

The exchange was sparked by Stalin’s earlier remarks on X (formerly Twitter), where he criticised Fadnavis for allegedly backtracking under pressure regarding the inclusion of Hindi as a compulsory third language. Stalin claimed Fadnavis’ recent statement—clarifying that only Marathi is mandatory—was a sign of discomfort following public backlash.

He demanded that the Prime Minister and Union Education Minister provide a clear stance on whether NEP enforces the teaching of a third language and accused the Centre of withholding Rs 2,152 crore from Tamil Nadu due to the state’s opposition to a mandatory third language component.

“If so, will the Union government issue a directive to all states affirming that the NEP does not require compulsory teaching of a third language?” Stalin questioned. “Will the Union Government release the Rs. 2,152 crore it unjustly withheld for Tamil Nadu on the premise that the state must subscribe to the teaching of a mandatory third language?" he asked. 

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