For a change, Tamil Nadu Education Minister and senior DMK leader K Ponmudy took on the role of a teacher at an event held at Tamil Nadu Open University, turning it into a political science classroom for the students and faculty.

The minister wielded the whip at the faculty for their ignorance of the subjects they teach, proving to be a taskmaster, returning to his old profession on Friday.

“What is a ‘unitary state’?” he asked the students at the concluding session of a seminar on “World Constitution Day’. When no answer was forthcoming, he fumed: “Haven’t political science students learnt what a unitary state is? Which country is an example of a unitary state?”

A student rose and said, India, leaving Ponmudy, who holds a doctorate in political science, baffled. “Is India a country with a unitary state?” he posed the query to Vice Chancellor S Arumugam and professors seated on the dais. To the minister’s utter shock, a faculty member teaching political science responded, “Puducherry”. Losing his cool, a visibly angry Ponmudy said, “You are good for nothing. What kind of teacher are you, especially in political science? Puducherry is a Union Territory, not a unitary state. Teachers need to be trained first, only then can students learn.”

Then, explaining what a unitary state is, 73-year-old Ponmudy, a former government college teacher before taking the political plunge, said, “A unitary state is a form of government where there is only a central government without any state governments. An example is the United Kingdom (Britain). In contrast, the United States of America (USA) is a federal state, where various states have come together to form a federal government.”

The minister’s speech at the event has gone viral on social media, evoking mixed responses. Reacting to this, academicians are of the view that this shows the quality of teaching and academic calibre of the faculty at many universities in Tamil Nadu, which boasts of a higher Gross Enrolment Ratio than the national average.

The Tamil Nadu BJP has taken exception to Ponmudy for ridiculing students and teachers in public, saying that the minister’s singling out of professors is condemnable. “It is habitual for Ponmudy to belittle others in public,” TN BJP vice president Narayanan Thirupathy said in a post on X.