Congress warns against changing three-language formula after Amit Shah’s Hindi pitch

The Congress on Saturday cautioned the government against revisiting the three-language formula, hours after Union Home Minister Amit Shah argued for Hindi as a common language for the country. Party spokesperson Anand Sharma said such “emotive” matters had been settled by the framers of the Constitution and should not be reopened.

What Shah said

Earlier that day, Shah said that because Hindi is the most widely spoken language, it could bind the country together. He encouraged people to use their mother tongues as much as possible, while saying efforts would be made to take Hindi to more parts of India.

The Congress response

Sharma said that if the remarks were accurate, the Home Minister should be aware that Hindi had long ago been made an official language. He noted that the Constitution reflects the country’s diversity by recognising 22 languages.

He argued that the question of language had been resolved with maturity after Independence, referring in particular to Jawaharlal Nehru’s time, when the three-language formula was worked out. Any hint that the arrangement could be reconsidered, he warned, would lead to strife and unrest. The formula is generally taken to mean Hindi, English and the regional language of each state.

Sharma said Hindi is spoken by most Indians, but English matters for global competitiveness. He listed Tamil, Kannada, Bengali, Odia, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi and Urdu as equally Indian languages, adding that he himself speaks Hindi and marks Hindi Divas but respects every language.

Legal position

The Official Languages Act, 1963 provides for both Hindi and English to be used as official languages by Parliament and the Union government. The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution lists 22 languages.

See also: Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.

Originally published on 14 September 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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