Overview

• At a July 15 lecture at the Prime Minister’s Museum and Library in New Delhi, CM Chandrababu Naidu praised Rao’s mastery of 17 languages and defended learning Hindi to address the three-language formula dispute.
• He likened Rao to China’s Deng Xiaoping for initiating bold economic liberalisation in 1991 that shifted India from the licence raj to a growth-oriented economy.
• Naidu highlighted Rao’s success in leading a minority government and forging cross-party consensus as a model for effective coalition governance.
• The CM’s remarks have reignited discussions on multilingual education and Hindi adoption, particularly in non-Hindi-speaking states.
• He proposed that Rao’s blend of linguistic scholarship and reform-driven politics offers a roadmap for navigating today’s language policy and coalition challenges.