Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK party chief M.K. Stalin on Monday hit back at Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after the latter accused the Tamil Nadu government of being “dishonest” and “ruining” the future of the state’s students.
In a strongly worded post on his X platform, Stalin called out Pradhan’s “arrogance” and said the minister was speaking like an “arrogant king” who had “disrespected” the people of Tamil Nadu and “needs to be disciplined.”
“Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who thinks of himself as a king and speaks with arrogance, should learn to control his tongue,” Stalin wrote.
The clash erupted after Pradhan, during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, alleged that the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government had initially agreed to implement the PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme but later backtracked. His remarks sparked a protest from the DMK, leading to an adjournment of the House’s proceedings.
“They (DMK) are dishonest. They are not committed to the students of Tamil Nadu. They are ruining the future of Tamil Nadu students. Their only job is to raise language barriers. They are doing politics. They are doing mischief. They are undemocratic and uncivilised,” Pradhan said.
Responding to these allegations, Stalin accused the Centre of betraying Tamil Nadu by withholding funds and criticized Pradhan’s comments against the state’s MPs and people.
Speaking outside Parliament, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran also refuted Pradhan’s claims, stating that the Tamil Nadu government never agreed to the NEP or its three-language policy.
“Dharmendra Pradhan lied by saying that the DMK government had agreed to sign the NEP. We never agreed. Why should students in Tamil Nadu be forced to learn three languages while students from northern states learn only one? We are not against Hindi — students who want to learn it are free to do so — but it should not be compulsory,” Maran said.
DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi echoed this sentiment, accusing the Union government of withholding over Rs 2,000 crores in school funds until Tamil Nadu accepted the NEP and three-language policy.
“The Union Education Minister claimed that Tamil Nadu MPs and opposition parties had agreed to sign the NEP — this is far from the truth. Our CM has written to both the PM and the Education Minister making it clear that we won’t sign the NEP, and this stance has not changed. The Minister hurt our feelings and Tamil Nadu’s pride by calling our government, people, and Parliamentarians uncivilised. We condemn this strongly,” Kanimozhi said.