Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 4 (ANI): Union Minister of State L Murugan on Wednesday said that the Union Government has never imposed Hindi on any state and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with expanding opportunities for Tamil candidates in central recruitment examinations.

Speaking to the reporters, Murugan said, 'The Union Government has never imposed Hindi anywhere. Only after PM Modi assumed office were candidates allowed to write paramilitary recruitment examinations in Tamil. He brought pride to Tamil globally. Thirukkural has been translated into more than 35 languages across the world... What concrete schemes has DMK implemented for the growth of the Tamil language?...'

His remarks came after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin again accused the Central government of 'imposing hindi' in the state, this time under the guise of the 'one language, three scripts' approach.

CM Stalin alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government is simply transliterating 'unpronounceable' Hindi names in English and Tamil scripts, warning the BJP against its 'obsession' with Hindi imposition.

'Hindi Imposition by the BJP Government: Unpronounceable names at the very entrance! The BJP is crossing all limits in its obsession with Hindi imposition! The Union BJP government has engaged in the vile act of #HindiImposition by adopting a 'one language, three scripts' approach, where Hindi names are simply transliterated into Tamil and English scripts!' he said in a post on X.

Sharing instances of what he believed was to be 'hindi imposition,' Stalin alleged that at the Tiruchirappalli Railway Divisional Office, the BJP has written 'kartvya dwar' in three scripts. He also objected to using the Bhavishya Nidhi Bhavan name to refer to Employees' Provident Fund (EPFO) offices.

'For the new criminal laws as well, they use Sanskrit names written in English script. The name of the Union Ministry of Water Resources has become 'Jal Shakti'. They showed the same behaviour regarding the name change of the Mahatma Gandhi 100-day work scheme (MGNREGA),' he further alleged.

There has been an ongoing tussle between the state government and the Centre, where the DMK-led government has accused the BJP of imposing Hindi. Amid this, the state also introduced the State Education Policy, with a two-language formula.

This comes amid the heated politics as the state is set to hold the Legislative Assembly elections later this year, where the DMK-led alliance will look to defend its hold on the state against the AIADMK-BJP-led alliance. (ANI)