TN CM slams Pradhan for 'arrogance', tells him to control his tongue

Coming down heavily on Dharmendra Pradhan for his criticism of the ruling DMK, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday slammed the Union Education Minister for his "arrogance" considering himself a king and asked him to control his tongue. 

The CM's remarks came in the wake of the exchange between the DMK MPs and Pradhan in the Lok Sabha over the PM SHRI scheme and fund allocation to the southern state. 

Pradhan had criticised the Tamil Nadu government for refusing to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) and doing a "U-turn" on the issue for "politics." Stalin made it categorical that the Tamil Nadu government did not come forward to implement the Centre's PM Shri scheme and when that is the case, he said nobody could persuade him further in this regard. 

"Just answer if you could release the fund or not, which was collected from us and which is meant for the students of Tamil Nadu," the chief minister said in a social media post responding to the central minister. 

Referring to Pradhan's letter to him that outlined Tamil Nadu's rejection of the NEP, 3-language policy and PM SHRI MoU, he said the DMK government functioned by respecting the views of the people, unlike the BJP leaders who were bound by "words from Nagpur." He slammed Pradhan for using a word to target the DMK MPs and said the central minister deceived Tamil Nadu by not releasing funds. "You are insulting the people of Tamil Nadu. Does PM Narendra Modi accept this,?" he asked. 

Pradhan withdrew the word that was objected to by the DMK MPs and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla directed that it be expunged from the records. Meawnhile, DMK office-bearers staged protests across the state condemning Pradhan for using an objectionable word and the union minister's effigies were also burnt. 

TN School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi strongly condemned Pradhan's remark and termed it outrageous.

"The Union BJP Government's political interference in education will not be forgiven. Students and teachers will remember this betrayal," Poyyamozhi charged. Further, he alleged that "NEP is not an education policy, but an RSS-driven agenda. Tamil Nadu rejects it outright." Earlier in the day, Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for about 30 minutes after DMK members protested over Pradhan's remarks that the Tamil Nadu government was "dishonest" on the issue of implementing the PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme. 

Replying to a question on the PM SHRI scheme, Pradhan said the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government has changed its stand on implementing the centrally-sponsored scheme which envisaged strengthening the schools managed by central, state or local bodies. 

In New Delhi, DMK MP Kanimozhi condemned Pradhan for his remark and said the central minister's claim that CM Stalin has gone back on his word was a lie and it was meant to divert. Tamil Nadu MPs never told Pradhan that the state was ready to accept the NEP, 3-language policy. 

Tamil Nadu BJP leader K Annamalai said DMK MPs think they can always spread half-truths and untruths and scoot and did not expect to be exposed on the floor of the Parliament by Pradhan. 

Annamalai asked: "TN CM says that his decisions are the reflection of the people. Do you think the views of your son, daughter, son-in-law and the DMK leaders & their relatives who run private CBSE/Matriculation schools be accounted as the views of the people." "Who is the Super Chief Minister upon whose insistence the Tamil Nadu government backtracked from signing the MoU for PM Shri Schools after initially accepting it," the former IPS officer asked in a social media post. 

During the debate in the Lok Sabha, Pradhan had said Stalin had also agreed initially on the PM Shri scheme "but suddenly some super CM appeared and they took a U-Turn. They just want to do politics."