Congress staged a walkout from Parliament during the Budget session on Tuesday. Congress leaders KC Venugopal and Barabanki MP Tanuj Punia later addressed the media, explaining their protest.
Rohan Dua, Executive Editor of The New Indian, Reports from the parliament.
Venugopal criticized Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remarks, saying, “Yesterday, the Education Minister insulted in a very bad way. Today the Finance Minister was also talking like that only. In the name of replying, insulting a state is not at all acceptable.”
Congresss MP KV Venugopal And barabanki MP Tanuj Punia address media inside Parliament on why they staged a walkout.@kcvenugopalmp @tanujpuniaINC
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During her Lok Sabha speech on March 11, Sitharaman accused the DMK of hypocrisy. Without directly naming him, she referred to Dravidian leader Periyar, claiming he once described Tamil as a “barbaric” language.
“I do not want to name him, but the moment I read the passages, anyone with a small, faint familiarity with Tamil will know who I’m speaking about,” she said.
Sitharaman criticized DMK members for demanding an apology from Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for calling their protests “uncivil” but remaining silent on Periyar’s remarks.
“A man who repeatedly says Tamil is a barbaric language, they keep his photograph in every room, they garland him and worship him and say he is the icon of the Dravidian movement. Look at their hypocrisy,” Sitharaman said.
Pradhan had earlier criticized the Tamil Nadu government for refusing to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) and accused them of doing a “U-turn” for political reasons. His comments led to strong protests from DMK MPs.
“They are dishonest, and they are ruining the future of the students of Tamil Nadu… they are misleading the people,” Pradhan said.
In response, the DMK maintained they had consistently opposed the NEP and the three-language policy, calling it unsuitable for Tamil Nadu.
Recalling her personal experience in Tamil Nadu, Sitharaman said, “I lived in Tamil Nadu where if you learn Hindi and Sanskrit, you are targeted.”
Sitharaman defended the NEP, saying it encourages learning in one’s mother tongue until Class 5, and ideally until intermediate.
Speaking in Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said, “New Education Policy actually says learn in your mother tongue till class 5th, if possible till 8th even better till intermediate that’s what NEP says but they (DMK) want to imagine it is imposing Hindi. Wrongly they have created a political mess in Tamil Nadu denying children their right to learn.”
Venugopal condemned both Sitharaman and Pradhan’s remarks, saying, “Insult of states like Tamil Nadu by Union ministers has become an order of the House now.”
Congress leaders condemned both Sitharaman and Pradhan’s remarks, calling them undemocratic and unparliamentary
