Lucknow, Feb 28 (PTI) The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on Friday questioned the "silence" of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin "opposing Hindi", and asked both the parties to clear their stand.

In a post on X in Hindi, RLD leader Persann Kumar Chaudhary, who is also the MLA from the Shamli Assembly constituency, said, "Under the New Education Policy (NEP), DMK leader MK Stalin opposes Hindi, yet honourable Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav are silent. Why are both of them silent? The SP and Congress should clarify their stand..."

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Upping the ante against alleged Hindi imposition by the Centre, Stalin on Thursday once again said the state will not allow the "imposition" of the language and vowed to protect Tamil and its culture.

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"Will oppose Hindi imposition. Hindi is the mask, Sanskrit is the hidden face," he said in a letter to partymen.

The ruling DMK has been alleging Hindi imposition by the Centre through the three-language formula as part of the NEP, a charge denied by the Union government.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)