CHENNAI: In the backdrop of the huge uproar over “imposition of Hindi” on schools , Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include Tamil as an optional language of study in other states.The chief minister chose his personal Twitter handle @EPSTamilNadu to make the request. “This will be a great service to one of the most ancient languages of the world,” he tweeted. However, the chief minister deleted the tweet after backlash from opposition parties.Reacting to the chief minister's tweet, DMK organising secretary and Rajya Sabha member R S Bharathi wanted to know whether he accepted the three-language formula. Speaking to reporters at his office, Bharathi said, “By asking the Prime Minister to make Tamil as part of the three-language policy in other states, we think he has accepted Hindi in our state. He must clarify whether he wants Hindi in Tamil Nadu”.VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan said the chief minister’s request to the Prime Minister should be seen as his acceptance to “open gates for Hindi.”“Tamil nationalist forces like us will never accept it. Tamil language has been recognised by other countries. The classic Tamil literature, Thirukkural has been translated into most of the foreign languages. There is no need to take efforts to add glory to the language now. Instead, it is everyone’s, including the chief minister’s, responsibility to save the language from getting destroyed,” Thirumavalavan said.As opposition parties continued to question the chief minister, the tweet disappeared from the @EPSTamilNadu handle, after having been there for almost four hours.