'Hatred for language not good for country', Naidu weighs in

For us, Telugu is our mother tongue. Hindi is a national language and English is an international language N CHANDRABABU NAIDU, Andhra Pradesh chief minister

- Srinivasa Rao Apparasu

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday appeared to lend his support to the Centre's contentious three-language policy, saying that it was not good to play politics or spread hatred on the issue, and adding that English, Hindi and Telugu were all important.

Naidu's comments come at a time when his Tamil Nadu counterpart, MK Stalin, has repeatedly clashed with the Union government over what he alleges is the Centre trying to impose Hindi on the southern state. Naidu is a key member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

"It is not good for the country to play politics on language issues or spread hatred against one language. For us, Telugu is our mother tongue. Hindi is a national language and English is an international language," Naidu said while speaking in the legislative assembly during the discussion on Swarnandhra Vision-2047 document. Swarnandhra Vision-2047 is a programme of the Naidu government, modelled on the central government's Viksit Bharat-2047, to make Andhra Pradesh a leading state in the country.