M K Stalin slams Pradhan for 'arrogance,' tells him to control his tongue

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday strongly hit out at Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, alleging he spoke with "arrogance" considering himself a king and asked him to control his tongue.

Stalin made it categorical that the Tamil Nadu government did not come forward to implement the Centre's PM Shri scheme and when that is the case, he said nobody could persuade him further in this regard.

"Just answer if you could release the fund or not, which was collected from us and which is meant for the students of Tamil Nadu," the chief minister said in a social media post.

Referring to Pradhan's letter to him that outlined Tamil Nadu's rejection of the New Education Policy, 3-language policy and PM Shri MoU, he said that the DMK government functioned by respecting the views of the people unlike the BJP leaders who were bound by "words from Nagpur."

He slammed Pradhan for using a word to target the DMK MPs and said the central minister deceived Tamil Nadu by not releasing funds. "You are insulting the people of Tamil Nadu. Does PM Narendra Modi accept this,?" he asked.

Pradhan withdrew the word that was objected to by the DMK MPs and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla directed that it be expunged from the records.

Earlier in the day, Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for about 30 minutes after DMK members protested over Pradhan's remarks that the Tamil Nadu government was "dishonest" on the issue of implementing the PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme.

Replying to a question on the PM SHRI scheme, Pradhan said the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government has changed its stand on implementing the centrally-sponsored scheme which envisaged strengthening the schools managed by central, state or local bodies.