We oppose gunpoint imposition of policies: Manickam Tagore 

Last week saw heated debate on the National Education Policy in both Houses of Parliament. The government claims DMK is obfuscating the narrative and that it does not seek to impose any language. What is the Congress’s stand on this issue? 

The National Education Policy was formulated without any structured discussion, inside or outside Parliament. It is clearly discriminatory, exclusionary, seeks to centralise education and promotes privatisation. It is not National Education Policy, but RSS Education Policy. In 2020, Tamil Nadu MPs met the then Education Minister, but our concerns were ignored. After unilaterally bringing the policy, the Centre is now forcing the States to adopt it by threatening to withhold the Central funds. An amount of ₹2,152 crore under PM-Shri that was owed to Tamil Nadu has not been released, which is unacceptable. The RSS believes in bulldozing, rather than having a conversation. This attitude is dangerous for the federal structure. We oppose this gunpoint imposition of the policies. 

Does the Congress agree with the DMK stand on the issue? Bihar elections are due in a few months, when the Congress along with its ally in Tamil Nadu has taken a strident anti-Hindi position in Tamil Nadu, how does it go and canvass for votes in Bihar? 

We have to understand that the DMK has had a legacy of taking an anti-Hindi position and Tamil Nadu has a history of anti-Hindi struggles going back to the pre-Independence era. The Union government, like the previous Congress-led governments, should have been more sensitive towards Tamil Nadu on the question of three-language policy. No language should be imposed on Tamil Nadu till the State is ready for it. Our State unit in Tamil Nadu supports the two-language policy. The Congress stands for all Indian languages and its many dialects. At the same time, we will oppose the imposition of any one language. But let me unequivocally state the Congress has never been against Hindi. We don’t see everything in the binary of black and white. Let us not confuse DMK’s stand with the Congress’s stand. We are a national party with presence across the country from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir and the DMK is a State party. 

The other issue that dominated the Parliament session last week was the impending delimitation. The DMK is leading the protest on the subject. For the Congress, this again is a difficult issue. Your State units in south and north may have different perspectives on this. What is the party’s position? 

The fear that the voice of the several States will be diminished that many leaders have aired is primarily because of the government’s refusal to have a conversation. The government is not saying what formula it will follow. They have not had a discussion with the stakeholders, opposition or the Chief Ministers. Home Minister Amit Shah, without any prior deliberation, proclaimed that no south Indian States will lose seats, delimitation will be done on a pro-rata basis. What is this pro-rata basis? Will seats in other States go up? Details are not known.  This discussion started with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s demand followed by Mr. Shah’s remarks. It is a complicated subject, we are a national party, and led by our president Mallikarjun Kharge, we will have an internal discussion within our party to formulate our position.  

Considering the various shades of opinions on the two issues, shouldn’t the INDIA bloc, which last met in June 2024, sit together to formulate a common position. 

The INDIA bloc was a forum to maximise coordination between the opposition parties during the general elections. The like-minded opposition parties continue to coordinate with each other in Parliament, to decide the floor strategy in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. And you saw the INDIA bloc parties came together on the issue of disparities in the voter list. Whenever there is a common issue, we work together.