India, June 28 -- The Maharashtra government's push for a three-language policy in primary school education has witnessed intense resistance from the Opposition, which has now escalated with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray preparing to hold a joint protest rally against the "imposition of Hindi" in the state on July 5. Here is a look at the genesis of language politics, and its fall-out.

Politics and flip-flops over the Hindi mandate

On April 16, the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government declared that Hindi would be made the mandatory third language from Classes 1 to 5 in government and private schools. The move was part of phased implementation of the union government'...