Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray warned schools against supporting the Devendra Fadnavis-led government’s push to impose Hindi or "any third language". In a letter to principals, he wrote, "There is no option of making Hindi compulsory...because Hindi isn’t the national language." He added that if schools back the government’s move, then MNS will consider it a "betrayal".