Ahead of poll, credit war breaks out in Maharashtra over classical language status to Marathi

Shiv Sena MPs protesting outside Parliament demanding classical language status for Marathi in New Delhi in March 2018.
| Photo Credit: File Photo

The Union Cabinet’s decision on Thursday to grant classical language status to Marathi, a demand pending since 2013, has set off a political credit war in the State ahead of the Assembly election due this year.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X to state that “Marathi is India’s pride” and “this honour acknowledges the rich cultural contribution of Marathi in our nation’s history”, political parties spared no time in highlighting their efforts in ensuring that the language was accorded this status.

Welcoming the move, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on X: “Finally, Marathi language has been given the status of classical language. This battle has been successful. Maharashtra government had continuously followed up with the Centre for this.”

Worked tirelessly: CM

The Shiv Sena chief said the party’s founder, Balasaheb Thackeray, always held Marathi in high regard and that “his dream has finally been realised”. He said for years the demand had remained unmet and since assuming office as Chief Minister, he worked tirelessly to turn “this dream into reality”.

Mr. Shinde’s deputy and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis described the decision as a “golden moment and a historic day”. He said he had been pursuing this demand even during his earlier stint as Chief Minister. Mr. Fadnavis held a meeting with Marathi literary figures and artists on Friday and thanked them for their support.

Being notified as a classical language will mean facilitation and funding for teaching Marathi in universities across the country. The move is also expected to generate employment opportunities in the academic and research fields, and support for Marathi libraries. Additionally, the preservation, documentation, and digitisation of ancient Marathi texts will generate jobs in archiving, translation, publishing, and digital media. It will also lead to the setting up of research centres in the State and the country, and enable works in Marathi to win national and international awards. Implementation of the decision is expected in two years.

However, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh was quick to point out that the proposal to accord classical language status to Marathi was sent to the Centre by party leader Prithviraj Chavan in July 2014 when he was the Chief Minister. The party said the Centre has now finally acted on it in the face of an “imminent defeat” in the upcoming election.

Mr. Ramesh said it was important to consider the sequence of events before the Union Cabinet’s decision. In a post on X, he said on May 5, 2024, the party reminded the Prime Minister about the Pathare Committee report submitted to the Centre by Mr. Chavan in 2014, stressing the need for according classical language status to Marathi. On May 12, the party drew attention to the Centre’s “long silence” on this demand despite efforts made to highlight it by Maharashtra leaders inside and outside Parliament, he said.

On May 13, the Congress publicly pledged to accord classical language status to Marathi as part of the INDIA bloc’s campaign for the Lok Sabha poll. Furthermore, on July 9, the party flagged the Centre’s “suspicious attempt to revisit the criteria for according classical language status and its potential impact on Marathi’s demand”, the Congress leader said.

Cong. questions delay

On September 26, when the Prime Minister was scheduled to visit Pune, the party again reminded him of this long-pending demand. Then, on October 3, ahead of “imminent defeat” in the Assembly election, the Prime Minister finally acted, awakening from his “long slumber”, Mr. Ramesh said. This raises the question: “Itni deri kyon Pradhan Mantriji? (Why the delay, Prime Minister?)”, he said.

The NCP (SP) and the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress’s partners in the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in the State, also highlighted their efforts towards realising this demand. NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said everyone had worked towards this demand and expressed displeasure at the decision being taken “a little late”.

“This decision has been taken a little late but what is important is that it has been taken and will have many benefits for the promotion and development of Marathi,” he told reporters in Pune on Friday.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said it was the BJP’s “old habit” to take credit for everything, but “all governments in the State had worked for this”.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray also claimed credit for the decision, stating that his party had put forth the demand in the development plan for Maharashtra prepared in September 2014. “From time to time, we followed up on this. After a long wait of almost 12 years, this status was achieved. It is a moment of joy for me and for my party,” he said in a post on Facebook.

The MNS chief also said he had taken up the demand with Mr. Modi in May this year while declaring his party’s support for him as NDA’s PM candidate for the Lok Sabha election. “Many thanks to Narendra Modi and the entire Union Cabinet,” he said.