'Hindi is Our National Language...': Nitish Kumar Loses Cool in INDIA Bloc Meet Over Translation Request

As parties of the INDIA bloc are trying to find a common footing to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the group’s crucial member and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is learnt to have lost his cool during alliance meeting last evening when representatives of southern ally DMK asked for a translation of his speech which was delivered in Hindi.

While the Bihar Chief Minister was delivering his speech, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) senior leader TR Baalu was reportedly unable to comprehend what was being said and signalled to Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj K Jha for a translation.

To help Baalu, when Jha sought permission from Nitish Kumar, the Bihar CM lost his temper and said, “We call our country Hindustan and Hindi is our national language. We should know the language.”

Kumar then asked Manoj Jha not to translate his speech and went on to say that Britishers were thrown away from India long back and Indians should also shun the colonial hangover.

Baalu attended the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) meeting in Delhi on Tuesday with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin.

The INDIA bloc parties convened for their fourth meeting in Delhi on Tuesday to deliberate on matters such as seat-sharing and campaign strategies for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

As per people who were present in the meeting, Nitish Kumar seemed “uncomfortable and angry at something” during the meeting.

While JD(U) members have been demanding Nitish to be named as the Prime Ministerial face of the alliance, the Bihar CM asserted in the meeting that he is not seeking any post “though some people are spreading such canards.”

The incident puts under the spotlight what can be viewed as an irritant in an alliance that brings together the Congress and hosts of regional parties, including West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress and the DMK, among others.

The DMK and its leaders have repeatedly campaigned against what it has described as the imposition of the Hindi in southern India by the Centre — an emotive issue in Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian politics.

But the language row appears to have resurfaced at the meeting of the alliance that plans to challenge the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.