Jayant Patil Rallis NCP Support for July 5 Protest Against Hindi in Schools

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by Sharad Pawar has officially extended its support to the pro-Marathi language march scheduled to be held in Mumbai on July 5, a rally organized jointly by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

The march has been called to oppose the state government's decision to make Hindi compulsory from Class 1 as part of the three-language formula under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. This move has sparked widespread discontent among Marathi language proponents and cultural groups across the state.

Both Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray have come together to lead the protest, marking a rare show of unity. Raj Thackeray has appealed to all political parties and citizens to join hands in defense of the Marathi language.

In response, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP has declared its support for the march. Jayant Patil, NCP’s Maharashtra unit president, shared the party’s stance through a post on social media. “There’s nothing wrong in learning other languages, but imposing Hindi at the cost of Marathi is unacceptable,” Patil stated.

He emphasized the importance of education in one's mother tongue and warned that any attempt to undermine regional languages is not in the state’s interest. Patil also urged party workers to actively participate in the rally, calling for unity across party lines on this cultural and linguistic issue.

With NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) now joining hands with the Thackeray brothers, the July 5 march is expected to be a significant political event, possibly reshaping alliances and public discourse ahead of upcoming elections in Maharashtra.