New Delhi [India], March 11: Congress MPs Manickam Tagore and Pramod Tiwari on Tuesday strongly condemned Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s remarks, calling his language “unparliamentary” and “unfortunate.”
Manickam Tagore, Congress MP, expressed his disapproval, stating, “It is very unfortunate. The language of the Union Education Minister was very unparliamentary. It is good to see that the Speaker prevailed upon the Minister, and he withdrew the statement. The way BJP and RSS degrade the language of Parliament shows the arrogance of BJP.”
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari also criticized Pradhan’s remarks, saying, “He should have controlled his language. He cannot abuse anyone, and we condemn his remarks.”
Earlier in the day, DMK MP Kanimozhi and other DMK MPs staged a protest in Parliament over Pradhan’s controversial comments regarding the National Education Policy (NEP) and the three-language policy issue. Kanimozhi said, “The Union Govt is withholding the money that has to be given to Tamil Nadu, saying that we have to sign the three-language policy and the NEP. They are ruining the future of the children of Tamil Nadu. They have no right to withhold the funds which have to come to the children of Tamil Nadu. Yesterday, he (Dharmendra Pradhan) responded in a very abusive way, saying that we are dishonest and that the people of Tamil Nadu are uncivilised. This is not the language we expect him to be speaking. This is totally undemocratic. We expect an apology.”
The dispute started when Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, during the Parliament’s Question Hour, accused the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government of being “dishonest” and the people of the state as “uncivilised” over disagreements regarding the implementation of the PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme. Pradhan further criticized the Tamil Nadu government for backing out from an agreement to implement the scheme in the state.
In response, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin condemned Pradhan’s remarks, accusing him of “arrogance” and disrespecting the people of Tamil Nadu. Stalin, in a strongly worded post on X (formerly Twitter), called Pradhan’s language “arrogant” and likened it to that of an “arrogant king.”
The situation escalated, leading to a protest by DMK MPs in Parliament and the adjournment of the proceedings in the Lower House.