Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) lawmakers on Monday protested against the National Education Policy (NEP) and alleged Hindi imposition in Lok Sabha and triggered a war of words that promoted the House adjournment until 12-noon shorty after the second leg of the Budget Session commenced on Monday.
The lawmakers shouted slogans demanding justice even as Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan hit out at the DMK. Pradhan withdrew some of his remarks and Speaker Om Birla said they were removed from the records as DMK lawmaker Kanimozhi took exception to the choice of words, saying she was pained and hurt.
Pradhan accused the DMK of misleading the public and politicising the issue. He criticised the Tamil Nadu government’s stance on the three-language policy. He claimed that the DMK’s opposition to centrally supported schemes, which align with the NEP, was detrimental to Tamil Nadu students.
Birla and DMK lawmaker Dayanidhi Maran had a heated exchange. Birla told Maran what he was saying was not on record and had it not been the case, he would have acted and sent him out of the House. “Go to your seat and say it on record, and I will act against you now.”
Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmakers accused Maran of threatening Birla, who asked the treasury benches to introduce a motion for action against the DMK member for alleged disrespect toward the chair.
Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said he would assess the House’s opinion before moving the motion and criticised Maran’s conduct.
Kanimozhi said they have issues with the NEP because the three-language policy is unacceptable. “The [Tamil Nadu] chief minister [M K Stalin] has also written to the PM [Prime Minister Narendra Modi] and the minister [Pradhan] about issues with the NEP and requested for the funds to be released.”
The Union government’s refusal to release funds under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan for school education to Tamil Nadu over the state’s refusal to fully endorse the NEP sparked the row over Hindi imposition.
Stalin condemned the denial and called it an attempt to pressure Tamil Nadu into compliance. The three-language formula with Hindi as the default third language has emerged as a major point of contention with the NEP.
Stalin chaired a meeting of DMK lawmakers in Chennai on Sunday where they resolved to protect Tamil Nadu’s rights in view of the delimitation, saying the population-based exercise will affect the southern as well as eastern states such as Odisha and West Bengal.
The delimitation is scheduled for 2026 to redefine the number of lawmakers a state sends to the Lok Sabha based on population. The exercise is projected to increase the Lok Sabha strength to 668. Uttar Pradesh’s tally was expected to increase from 80 to 143. Tamil Nadu’s number could rise to just 49 from 39. The government has allayed fears, saying southern states will get a fair share of seats.