"We Never Said Won't Allow Hindi In Tamil Nadu": Minister To NDTV

Tamil Nadu Industries Minister TRB Rajaa has denied any anti-Hindi narrative in his state but asserted that they oppose the imposition of any language. Tamil Nadu is home to a large Hindi-speaking population, he said, stressing that even those from other countries have settled in the state in large numbers.

"We have the largest German and Japanese population. All these foreigners can find their happiness in Tamil Nadu. I wonder why my Hindi-speaking friends can't be here. We have a humongous Hindi-speaking population too, and they are very happy in Tamil Nadu," Rajaa said at NDTV's Tamil Nadu Conclave.

#NDTVTNSummit | "Have a humongous Hindi speaking population in Tamil Nadu. Our civilisational duty to protect Tamil. We've never said we will not allow Hindi speaking people here, we are deadly against imposition of Hindi": Tamil Nadu Minister TRB Rajaa (@TRBRajaa) to @vasudha156 pic.twitter.com/yfwTcZloZf

— NDTV (@ndtv) January 30, 2026

However, it remains a civilizational duty to protect Tamil, he underlined.

The government never said it would stop people from speaking in Hindi, he stressed, stating that such a move would be "wrong". This is exemplified by the presence of the Hindi-speaking investors in Tamil Nadu, he argued.

"We have so many investors from the north of India, absolutely from the middle of the Hindi-speaking belt. We don't have a problem. We're just reminding them that that part of India has actually lost hundreds of languages to Hindi," he said.

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Calling every single language in India important, he said no sensible investor would invest based on the language they speak instead of looking at the technical capabilities or the educational strength.

"If you just want to play your Hindi politics and try to get investments, good luck to you. We are playing on the strengths of infrastructure, academic prowess, policy initiatives, good governance, and ease of doing business. The kind of tweaks that we have brought into ease of doing business, I think these make better industrial business trend to any investor and we really don't want any divisive investor to come into Tamil Nadu anyway," the minister said.

#NDTVTNSummit | "He (Vijay) speaks the language of the BJP. He is the 'Z Team' of the BJP. Want healthy politics in Tamil Nadu": Tamil Nadu Minister TRB Rajaa (@TRBRajaa) to @vasudha156 ahead of #TamilNaduElections pic.twitter.com/a0EUangz1h

— NDTV (@ndtv) January 30, 2026

He also urged the centre to learn from Tamil Nadu's Dravidian model. Asked what the model promises to youngsters, he said the Dravidian model of governance has provided jobs and empowered them to transform their lives. "We want to build better lives, a happy home, and not just be a two-minute clip on Insta," he said.

Rajaa also criticized Vijay, the superstar whose entry into politics has raised speculations over new alliances ahead of the upcoming polls.

"He speaks the BJP's language. He is the 'Z Team' of the BJP. We want healthy politics in Tamil Nadu. Anybody can come into politics, but I would love to see them come up with healthy debate instead of trying to throw muck with a lot of falsehood," he said.