- Finance Minister N. Marie Wilson faced criticism for poor Tamil in Budget speech on August 5
- DMK MLA TM Rajendran urged Wilson to speak in impeccable Tamil in future presentations
- Wilson defended his Tamil, emphasizing governance over linguistic formalities and unique style
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister's "poor" Tamil has triggered a major political storm in the state, with both the DMK and BJP attacking the minister, who has hit back at his detractors.
The controversy began when DMK MLA TM Rajendran remarked in the Assembly that Finance Minister N. Marie Wilson's speech during the Budget presentation on August 5 contained "grammatical errors in Tamil" and that Wilson had switched to English.
"At least in the future, when he gets the opportunity, the Finance Minister should speak in impeccable Tamil," Rajendran said.
Taking strong exception to Rajendran's criticism over his Tamil, a visibly annoyed Wilson got up and defended his communication style, emphasising that his primary focus was on governance and the state's progress rather than linguistic formalities.
"Don't advise me regarding Tamil. It's my unique style. I can only speak like this. Accept it or not. I can't change it for you," Wilson snapped at the DMK MLA.
Intervening in the spat, Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar pacified the minister, saying members should handle such debates in a lighter vein.
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"No. You spoke in a way people are able to understand your speech. Take it lightly," he advised the minister.
The Finance Minister then said that Christianity had taught him only love and empathy, which, he taunted, many in the House did not understand.
"Christianity has taught me one language. That is love and empathy. Half of the people can't understand this by reading Tamil. I have read it in the Bible. I am a born Christian."
But the DMK kept up its attack on the minister for his "faulty" Tamil. Senior party leader TKS Elangovan said: "He does not want to accept that his Tamil was the worst and that he was reading it wrong. When he read the Budget in Tamil, he made mistakes in many places. A Finance Minister should be able to read it properly."
Launching a scathing attack on the minister, the BJP accused him of denigrating Tamil and demanded an apology.
"You may belong to any religion by birth, but you must understand that, by emotion and identity, we are all Tamils. Didn't your own party leadership point this out in the Assembly? Therefore, there is nothing wrong with you upholding your religion. But we can never accept you denigrating the Tamil language. So, for the wrongful remarks you made against the Tamil language, in a moment of emotion, you must publicly apologise!" Tamil Nadu BJP chief Nainar Nagenthran said."P
