Not a crime, we’ll continue to use ‘ondriya arasu’, says Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin

CHENNAI: A debate over Tamil nomenclature and federalism is on in TN with the DMK government insisting on using the term ‘ondriya arasu’ (Union) instead of ‘mathiya arasu’ (Centre) to refer to the Union government. Chief minister M K Stalin on Wednesday told the assembly that using the word “Union” to refer to the central government was not a social crime and no one needs to be rattled by it. Stalin’s assertion that his government would continue to use ‘Union’ has revived the debate on state autonomy and federalism. Stalin’s clarification came after BJP members objected to it. “The single word (Union) has capsulized the philosophy of federalism. So, we are using it and we will continue to use it,” the CM said.
The CM added that the first line of the Constitution says, “India, that is Bharat, shall be a union of states”.
“We are using only what is there in the Constitution. We are not using anything that is not there in the Constitution,” said Stalin while responding to BJP’s floor leader Nainar Nagendran, who wondered about the repeated usage of “Ondriya Arasu” (Union Government) instead of “Mathya Arasu” (Central Government) ever since the DMK returned to power. He raised doubts whether the newfound interest in the terminology had “a hidden agenda”.
Stalin said there were some who thought the mere use of the word “Ondriyam” (Union) was a social crime. “It is wrong to think so. They need not be rattled by the word,” he said. “Union is not a wrong word. It means union of states,” said Stalin and added that many were criticising DMK leaders, saying they were using the word that was not used by party founder C N Annadurai and former chief minister M Karunanidhi.
This was not the first time that the present DMK leaders were referring to “union”, Stalin said and recalled the party’s poll manifesto in 1957 wherein it referred to the nation as “Union of India”. He said Annadurai had, on January 25, 1963, spoken about sovereignty.
“The Preamble to the Constitution says political sovereignty lies with the people. The legal sovereignty is shared between the federal union and its constituent units (states),” said Stalin quoting Annadurai. He also referred to freedom fighter Ma Po Sivagnanam, and C Rajagopalachari who spoke about federalism. Hence, no one need be scared of the word ‘Union’, which encapsulates the essence of federalism, he added.
Minister Ponmudi joined the debate and said the BJP floor leader should understand the difference between coalition and federation. “Federalism does not mean coalition. Many states came together to form Bharat and it was not the other way around.”
Recently, the DMK and the BJP argued over semantics with BJP leaders terming the new coinage as “childish behavior”. Reacting strongly to Stalin’s remarks, party spokesman Narayanan Thirupathi in a video message, said, “Stalin says India was created by states. But Dr Ambedkar has said ‘India creates states for administrative purpose’. You (Stalin) have constituted a council to advise you on the economy. You should constitute a committee to teach you about the Constitution of India.”