AAP demands honorarium for women in first cabinet as promised during Delhi polls
With the new government’s first cabinet meeting scheduled for 7 PM on Thursday, Former CM Atishi called upon the BJP to deliver on its word.
Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin Monday opposed the Centre’s three-language policy, accusing the BJP-led central government of attempting to impose Hindi on the state.
“We are not playing divisive politics. The Union Government, BJP, is trying to force Hindi on us… Please don’t impose the three-language policy,” Udhayanidhi Stalin told reporters in Chennai.
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The latest row over the Hindi language erupted after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, while speaking in Varanasi on February 15, purportedly said that Tamil Nadu needs to come to terms with the Indian constitution, emphasising that the three-language policy is the rule of law.
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Responding sharply to his purported remarks, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin took to social media, posting a video clip of Pradhan’s statement and questioning its Constitutional validity.
“Which Article of the Constitution of India mandates trilingualism? Can the Education Minister say that?” Stalin asked, adding that education falls under the Concurrent List, and the Union government cannot dictate state policies unilaterally.
He also accused the BJP of blackmailing Tamil Nadu by linking central funds to the acceptance of the three-language formula. “Tamils will not tolerate the blackmailing of ‘Tamil Nadu has no funds until it accepts the trilingual policy’. We ask for our rights,” he asserted.
The BJP, however, dismissed the DMK’s objections as political opportunism. BJP Tamil Nadu Vice President Narayanan Thirupathy hit back, stating, “All private schools owned by many politicians, including the one owned by the first family of DMK, teach Hindi and other languages. They just want to do cheap politics. We condemn the Chief Minister for politicising this.”
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