'Speak impeccable Tamil' vs 'have my own style': Grammar jibes set off row in TN assembly

NEW DELHI: A row over Tamil Nadu finance minister’s language and pronunciation skills during his budget speech triggered a political row in the state assembly on Monday, with the opposition members criticising his use of English and "grammatical errors".The controversy began when MDMK MLA T M Rajendran, who won from Kadayanallur assembly constituency on the DMK’s Rising Sun symbol, pointed out "gramatical errors" in TVK minister N Marie Wilson’s August 5 budget speech.'Several grammatical errors'Rajendran said Wilson had skipped several Tamil sentences and used English extensively during the speech. “As a Tamil enthusiast, I observed in his (Marie Wilson’s) speech that he had skipped many of the Tamil sentences. There were several grammatical errors too,’’ Rajendran said.“Atleast in the future, when he gets the opportunity the finance minister should speak in impeccable Tamil,” he added.Rajendran also asked school education minister A Rajmohan to help Wilson improve his Tamil.