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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Sunetra Pawar has taken charge, but challenges remain

Mumbai: Days after taking oath as Maharashtra’s first woman Deputy CM, Sunetra Ajit Pawar was unanimously elected president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). This was another major responsibility on her shoulders just a month after her husband’s tragic death in the Baramati air crash. For decades, Sunetra, popular as ‘Vahini’ or just ‘Tai’, chose to be the silent force behind her husband. But she remained accessible, grounded and attentive to the people of Baramati. Sunetra quietly...

Sunetra Pawar has taken charge, but challenges remain

Mumbai: Days after taking oath as Maharashtra’s first woman Deputy CM, Sunetra Ajit Pawar was unanimously elected president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). This was another major responsibility on her shoulders just a month after her husband’s tragic death in the Baramati air crash. For decades, Sunetra, popular as ‘Vahini’ or just ‘Tai’, chose to be the silent force behind her husband. But she remained accessible, grounded and attentive to the people of Baramati. Sunetra quietly built institutions of sustainability, empowering rural youth, women and farmers, and addressed environmental concerns. Earning awards and accolades, she continued in a similar vein until the NCP suddenly split apart in July 2023 and Ajit Pawar fielded her in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Baramati. Her opponent was her sister-in-law and the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) Working President Supriya Sule, who easily snatched victory. Barely months later, Sunetra waltzed into the Rajya Sabha with a nudge from the BJP, signalling new political equations. Challenges ahead Sunetra Pawar faces multiple challenges within the party, government, politics and family. There’s a dreaded, but not fully identified, ‘chandal chaukdi’ (gang of four), referred to by all, that’s hyper-active after Ajit Pawar’s death. This can test her authority. Here, Sunetra will have to assert herself and make efforts to carve her independent niche in politics. The sympathy factor may soon evaporate. Another question is whether Sunetra will initiate a ‘merger’ of the two NCPs. This was said to be the ‘desire’ of Ajit Pawar. A close family friend and retired IPS officer, Vikram Bokey, described Sunetra as ‘a gem of a human being, extremely poised, cultured, and with a highly educated background’. “The state witnessed her suddenly blossom into a leader after Ajit Pawar’s tragic passing… She has rekindled hopes among the masses. The people view her as the ideal candidate for the top (CM) post,” Bokey told The Perfect Voice . Sunetra – A village girl who became deputy CM Born on 18 October 1963, Sunetra hails from an influential political family. Her step-brother, Dr Padamsinh Patil, straddled state and national politics with ease for decades. She completed her BA, married Ajit Pawar in 1985, but chose to prioritise family and motherhood and only much later (2024) marked her reluctant political entry to support her spouse. She is a trustee of Vidya Pratishthan, chairperson of Baramati Hi-Tech Textile Park, and a member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum, a French think-tank. She launched the Environmental Forum of India (2010).

Lingua Pragmatica

Updated: Mar 20, 2025

As Southern leaders like M.K. Stalin rage against Hindi, Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu offers a model of pragmatism over parochialism.

Chandrababu Naidu
Andhra Pradesh

Amid the cacophony of opposition in southern states to Hindi, Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu has taken a markedly pragmatic stance by remarking recently in the state Assembly that there was no harm in learning other languages. Hindi, Naidu noted, was useful for communication across India, particularly in political and commercial hubs like Delhi. His remarks, though avoiding explicit mention of the NEP, were widely seen as an endorsement of multilingualism and a rebuke to the linguistic chauvinism that has gripped parts of the South.


Few issues in India stir political passions quite like language. It is not merely a means of communication but a marker of identity, a relic of colonial resistance, and a source of political mobilization. In the southern states, where anti-Hindi sentiment has long been entrenched, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and its three-language formula have reignited old tensions. No state embodies this defiance more than Tamil Nadu, where the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led by M.K. Stalin has framed the policy as an assault on its linguistic autonomy.


Naidu’s words, welcomed by his ally and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, mark a sharp contrast with the DMK’s position. Tamil Nadu’s hostility towards Hindi dates back to the 1930s, when C. Rajagopalachari’s attempt to introduce it in schools met with fierce resistance. The anti-Hindi agitations of the 1960s cemented the DMK’s ideological stance, with its first Chief Minister, C.N. Annadurai, famously warning that Hindi imposition could push Tamil Nadu towards secession.


The question, however, is whether this rigid opposition serves Tamil Nadu’s interests. While Stalin, with an eye to the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, has been relentlessly portraying Hindi as a threat to his state’s regional identity, Naidu, a partner of the BJP-led Centre, is framing it as a tool for economic mobility. His argument is not that Hindi should replace Telugu or English but that it offers a competitive advantage.


The economic case for multilingualism is compelling. Indians who speak multiple languages tend to have better job prospects, higher earnings and greater geographic mobility. Andhra Pradesh’s Telugu-speaking diaspora is a case in point. Telugus make up a significant proportion of Indian-origin professionals in the United States, the Gulf, and Southeast Asia as Naidu pointed out, hinting that this success story was built not on linguistic rigidity but on adaptability.


In a country where inter-state migration is rising and where Hindi remains the most widely spoken language, refusing to learn it amounts to self-imposed isolation. Tamil Nadu’s approach, by contrast, risks limiting its youth. The DMK government has refused to implement the three-language policy, keeping schools strictly bilingual with Tamil and English. Its justification that Hindi is not necessary for global success could be true in a narrow sense but ignores the domestic context. If Tamil filmmakers can dub their movies into Hindi to expand their audience, why should Tamil students be denied access to the language that could open more doors for them within India?


The DMK has accused successive central governments, particularly under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of pushing Hindi at the expense of regional languages. Yet, rejecting Hindi outright is an overcorrection. The reality is that Hindi is an important language in India’s economic and political landscape. Naidu’s position, one of accommodation rather than confrontation, offers a middle ground that other Southern leaders would do well to consider.


Some states already recognize this. Karnataka, despite its own history of linguistic pride, has allowed Hindi to be taught as an optional language. Kerala, whose migrants work in Hindi-speaking regions and the Gulf, has been less hostile to Hindi education. Naidu’s model, balancing regional identity with practical necessity, offers a way forward. Languages should be embraced, not politicized. Southern leaders would do well to listen to him.

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