Tamil Nadu’s ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Thursday said there is no place for Hindi in the state and that it is committed to the two-language formula of teaching Tamil and English in schools.

“The AIADMK government is committed to the two-language formula in schools — mother tongue Tamil and English — introduced by Anna [former chief minister C N Annadurai]. There is no place for Hindi. Neither the government nor the party would backtrack even an inch from what Anna has laid out. There would not be any change,” Tamil Nadu minister and AIADMK leader D Jayakumar said.

Jayakumar’s statement came a day after the Opposition accused chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami of being an apologist for the Centre’s three-language formula proposed in the draft New Education Policy (NEP).

The draft proposed compulsory teaching of Hindi in schools across the country. The Centre on Monday dropped the clause related to the proposal in the draft after southern states opposed the idea saying it amounted to imposition of Hindi.

Jayakumar said Palaniswami’s tweet on Wednesday, which has since been deleted, urging PM Modi to include Tamil as the third optional language in other states was misunderstood. “The message of the chief minister’s twitter post was well-intentioned. But the Opposition has been distorted it and turned into an unnecessary controversy.”

First Published: Jun 06, 2019 23:49 IST