The Union finance minister had said, “Those who hail from Telangana their Hindi speaking skills are weak. My Hindi speaking skills are weak too but even them I am replying to poor Hindi with my weak Hindi speaking skills.”
Nirmala Sitharaman [File Photo]
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remarks on poor Hindi speaking skills of the people of Telangana has created a furore in the state with both Congress and BRS denouncing it.
The finance minister had made the comments while replying to a question by Congress MP A Revanth Reddy from Telangana on depreciation of rupee. She said: “Those who hail from Telangana their Hindi speaking skills are weak. My Hindi speaking skills are weak too, but even then I am replying to poor Hindi with my weak Hindi speaking skills.”
Revanth Reddy retorted saying “I am a shudra, so I may not be able to speak pure Hindi. She is a Brahmin, so her language might be better. But that should not be a problem.” But this had earned Reddy a chiding from the Speaker of Lok Sabha.
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But Sitharaman’s comments on the Hindi language skills of Telangana did not go down well with the people. Today Congress supporters protested in Hyderabad against the comments made by Sitharaman.
BRS MLC and ex MP of Nizamabad Kalvakuntla Kavitha took a jibe at her and said: “ It would be better if Nirmala Sitharaman responded on the issue of weak rupee instead of weak Hindi.”
“It is this supremacist attitude that will bring this ruling dispensation down,” said Konatham Dileep, who is also associated with the BRS.
Scores of people took to social media to criticise her comments. BRS cadres, who trolled the Union finance minister, even posted clips of Bandi Sanjay, BJP from Karimnagar speaking in the Parliament and switching to Telugu after beginning his speech in Hindi taking a dig at his inability to speak in Hindi at length.
It may be pointed out here that in South India, Telangana is the only state where people speak Hindi. Hyderabadis speak Deccani, a dialect which is a mixture of Dehlavi, Marathi, Kannada and Telugu. Sitharaman who is married to a Telugu is not unaware of this uniqueness of the Telangana state.
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