Tamil Nadu’s fair and firm voice on the two-language policy and fair delimitation was echoing nationwide and the BJP was clearly rattled by it, Stalin said,
Chennai:Averring that ‘This isn’t riot-for vote politics. This a battle for dignity and justice,’ Chief Minister M K Stalin lashed out at his Uttar Pradesh counterpart, Yogi Adityanath, who had told a news agency that the DMK president was trying to stir divisions based on region and language, referring to the latest initiatives taken by Tamil Nadu on delimitation, three-language system and so on.
‘And now Hon’ble Adityanath wants to lecture us on hate?,’ wondered Stalin in his message on X by telling the BJP leader: ‘Spare us. This isn’t irony – it’s political black comedy at its darkest.’
Tamil Nadu’s fair and firm voice on the two-language policy and fair delimitation was echoing nationwide and the BJP was clearly rattled by it, he said, referring to the interview of Adityanath and made it clear that the State did not oppose any language but only opposed imposition and chauvinism.
Adityanath’s question ‘why Hindi should be hated’ and the remark ‘when they feel their vote bank is at risk, they try to create divisions,’ caused ripples all over the country, prompting Stalin to come out with the scathing reply that caused a sensation in political circles at the national level.
DMK MP, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, said that Adityanath’s remark was the biggest joke in the world. He had no right to talk about Tamil Nadu and let him first run a proper administration in his State, she said, adding that Tamil Nadu had been fighting its language policy since the 1930s.
While Stalin and Tamil Nadu have been earning the wrath of the BJP for quite some time for the outright rejection of the New Education Policy 2020, particularly the 3 language policy mandated in it, and then mobilizing Chief Ministers and political party leaders of non-BJP ruled States to demand a fair delimitation, the standoff between the two Chief Ministers is the latest on the issue.
It all began with the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan refusing to release more than Rs 2000 crore funds to Tamil Nadu on the ground that it had not implemented the National Education Policy and openly asking why Tamil Nadu would not adopt the three language system, prompting the Chief Minister to say that the State would not allow any language imposition even if it was given Rs 10,000 crore.
That was followed by the Joint Action Committee of several political leaders from various parties meeting in Chennai and taking a firm stand in demanding a fair delimitation that would not penalise the States that implemented the population control programme of the country.
Though the BJP was trying to explain that the delimitation process had not been announced, the coming together of the non-BJP leaders itself created a flutter.
Since Stalin was spearheading these initiatives that primarily took on the BJP and its policies, several attempts were made to run down Tamil Nadu and the DMK government in different ways by BJP leaders. Yogi Adityanath is the latest to join the bandwagon.
