VIJAYAWADA: TDP and BJP leaders condemned the comments of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu. Jana Sena refrained from responding to the remarks. TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh took to Twitter to remind Jagan that it was his party that obstructed the TDP from introducing English as the medium of instruction in municipal schools.
Taking exception to the stand adopted by the State government with regard to the medium of teaching in government schools, former minister and TDP senior leader Kalava Srinivasulu said it was proved, once and for all, that the YSRC government had no love or affection for Telugu, the mother tongue of 8.49 crore people.
Kalava added every person loved their mother tongue just as they loved their mothers. “It is a pity that the State government fails to understand that suddenly replacing Telugu as the medium of instruction in schools will create chaos.”
The TDP leader said language was the symbol of one’s self-respect and self-esteem and, by disregarding it, the government had done a grave injustice. “There is nothing wrong in learning English, but treating it as it is everything is not done,” he said and found fault with Yarlagadda Lakshmiprasad for supporting the government’s move. He also wondered why Jagan ignored the Kasturi Rangan report that had said that only 15 per cent of 125 crore people in the country could speak in English.
BJP State president Kanna Lakshmi Narayana said it was not proper on the part of the Chief Minister to comment on Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu. “All Venkaiah Naidu had said was that the medium of teaching should be in one’s own mother tongue. Jagan should remember that in the past it was he who opposed English as the medium of instruction in schools?”
The BJP leader clarified that his party opposed the government’s decision of making English medium mandatory in schools and recalled that only after years of struggle, classical language status was obtained for Telugu, and that too during the YSR’s regime. “All we want is to have the medium of teaching to be in our mother tongue,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, who did not respond to Jagan’s comments, continued to criticise the government’s decision. He posted old newspaper clippings of the YSRC opposing English medium and Jagan hailing the Telugu language.