On the day a meeting of political parties in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday unanimously asked the Centre to use the 1971 Census as the basis for any delimitation for the next 30 years, AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was seen evasive on critical issues of delimitation and language row that are rocking Southern states as of now.
The Tamil Nadu meeting, presided over by chief minister MK Stalin, but boycotted by the BJP and its allies, was attended by members of 35 parties, including the AIADMIK and the Congress. Thus led to flare up tensions on a contentious exercise that has the potential to widen the chasm between India’s northern and southern regions.
However, at a media conference in New Delhi, Chandrababu Naidu has reacted differently to two issues that are of great concern to the southern states. It is known that the Chief Ministers of neighboring states have openly expressed their concern that the southern states will suffer a great loss due to the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies.
When reporters questioned Chandrababu on this issue, he did not give a direct answer. He adopted an evasive approach. At the press conference, reporters asked what his stance was on the delimitation that the CMs of the southern states are expressing concern about? He did not give a clear answer to this. “It has not come now…we will see when it comes”, he replied.
He also responded in a similar way on another key issue, the issue of languages. The CM said that it is only speculation that the states will suffer a loss as the population decreases. “Delimitation is a continuous process. Reservations should be provided for women. I will speak on this issue when the time comes. At present, it is necessary to focus on population management rather than population control. Population is not a political issue”, he added.
Moreover, he said that “Mother tongue should be promoted. English is a language that is only useful for livelihood. The previous government unwisely promoted English education. In fact, knowledge is different…language is different. Language is only a tool for communication. I am encouraging learning 5 to 10 languages in every university. International languages can be learned and used for employment. Hindi helps in increasing relations between people”.
It is known that the Center is forcibly imposing Hindi on the southern states, and at the same time, there are concerns that the three- language principle is not being implemented in many states under the BJP rule. Stalin announced that the three-language policy will not be implemented in his state.
To another question asked about the state government’s stance on the implementation of the three-language policy, Chandrababu responded, “What is wrong with it?” He said that there is nothing wrong with the three-language policy.
