News Tamil Nadu

TN BJP Chief Annamalai Slams Kanimozhi’s DMK Rhetoric, Demands Straightforward Answers

March 4, 2025
The Commune

The war of words over the National Education Policy (NEP) escalated when DMK Deputy General Secretary and Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi, using the typical victim card tactics employed by the DMK, urged Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Annamalai to ensure that the Centre released education funds if he truly cared about students. This shifted the focus away from the original issue. Annamalai had earlier raised concerns about the DMK’s opposition to the third language policy, especially regarding Hindi, highlighting how it neglects only government school students who are excluded from the policy, while private run matriculation and CBSE school students are given the option to choose. Over the past two days, DMK MP Kanimozhi entered the fray, attempting to buttress the party’s stance, but ignoring the core issue. This time, Annamalai slammed the her political hypocrisy and urged her to get to the point and answer the question directly.

Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai, through his official X account, took to task DMK MP Kanimozhi, saying, “Anbu Akka Tmt @KanimozhiDMK, if the GOI-published data is critical of the TN Govt, you would call it biased. If the data is appreciative, you will publish it on the front page of Murasoli & Dhinakaran – typical of Review Gating (Receptive only to positive reviews & filters out negative feedback). The Pseudo truth environment that the DMK wishes to construct will be dismantled even if the GoTN commissions a survey to understand the quality of education imparted. We are confident that the results would point out the deteriorating education standards in TN today under your brother’s regime. Ennum ezhuthum, illam thedi kalvi & morning breakfast scheme were proposed in NEP2020/ Samagra Siksha. As a member of Parliament, you should have known that many of the NEP recommendations were rolled out for implementation in other states even before they were introduced in TN (without the effort of having to invent a new name for pasting stickers). For DMK, politics takes precedence over the future of our children. Did @BJP4TamilNadu compel the DMK Govt to send a letter to the Central Govt committing that PM Shri would be implemented starting this academic year? We are sure you know that PM Shri has subsumed many aspects of Samagra Siksha, even if you & the part-time school education minister of TN say otherwise in front of the media. Your brother and nephew have been avoiding answering this question. Would you at least care to answer? “Why is the opportunity to learn a third language denied to our government school students when it is provided to students studying in private CBSE/ Matriculation schools, including private schools that your family and your ministers run?”

This sharp yet respectful rebuke came from Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Annamalai in response to DMK Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi’s remarks. Kanimozhi had criticized the ASER 2024 report, claiming that the data provided was manipulated and selectively presented. She repeated the familiar rhetoric, accusing the BJP of financially strangling states while failing to implement schemes for receiving funds.

DMK MP Kanimozhi stated, “Thiru @annamalai_k, the world knows how BJP manipulates data—Dr. Parakala Prabhakar exposed it in The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis. BJP thrives on selectively quoting statistics, twisting numbers to fit its propaganda. Your ASER data? We know how it’s cooked up, which is why we’re conducting our own survey on the real impact of education policies. Even your 2025 Economic Survey praised Tamil Nadu for revolutionizing education through landmark schemes like Illam Thedi Kalvi, Ennum Ezhuthum, and the breakfast scheme for schoolchildren. Unlike BJP-ruled states struggling with literacy, we invest in our students’ future. You claim to care about Tamil Nadu’s students—then why has your government withheld ₹2,152 crore in Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) funds rightfully owed to Tamil Nadu? If you truly care, tell your union government to release these funds instead of preaching to us. You talk about fairness, yet Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) have removed German and other foreign languages while continuing to impose Hindi and Sanskrit, depriving students of global exposure while pushing BJP’s divisive ideological agenda. If you are truly advocating for a three-language policy, give us the data about how many KV schools teach Tamil? Do you even know that many KVs in Tamil Nadu don’t have Tamil teachers? Tamil Nadu will never accept BJP’s agenda of misinformation, financial strangulation, and Hindi imposition.” 

The exchange of words between DMK Deputy General Secretary and Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi, and Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Annamalai, was sparked by Annamalai’s criticism of Kanimozhi’s brother, Chief Minister MK Stalin. Stalin had raised concerns about the teaching of a third language in Tamil Nadu schools, questioning why students were being denied this opportunity. He stated, “Some guardians of lopsided policies, wailing in great concern, ask, “Why are you denying Tamil Nadu students the opportunity to learn a third language?” Well, why don’t they first say which third language is being taught up north? If they had just taught two languages properly there, where’s the need for us to learn a third?”

In response, Annamalai argued that supporting the new National Education Policy, which aims to create equality in education, was not a “lopsided” stance. He added, “The education system you wish to impose only on our Govt school students forever, while allowing a different standard for private school students, is lopsided. We are surprised that you trimmed our question to suit your convenience. Our question was, “Why is the opportunity to learn a third language denied to our government school students when it is provided to students studying in private CBSE/ Matriculation schools, including private schools that your family and your ministers run?”

Annamalai also expressed surprise at Stalin’s implication that people in northern India are not proficient in English, challenging him to reflect on Tamil Nadu’s own education system. “We are also surprised that you indicate that the people in the north of India are not conversant in English. How conversant are you, Thiru@mkstalin? Thiru @mkstalin, we humbly request you to take time to read the recent ASER Rural 2024 report on the Tamil language proficiency of our students in Class III, V, and VIII before demeaning others for one’s language proficiency as your part-time School Education Minister is living in denial and jeopardising the future of our children.”

Feeling hurt by the pointed criticism and questions by Annamalai aimed at her brother, Chief Minister MK Stalin, Kanimozhi responded to Annamalai’s post, dismissing the ASER data as false and malicious, claiming it portrayed the state in a negative light.

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