AIADMK ally PMK terms Leoni appointment as bad choice

Former chief minister and AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam on Friday demanded the chief minister M K Stalin reconsider the appointment of Dindigul I Leoni as the president of Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation. In a statement, the AIADMK leader said that the DMK government has degraded the stature of the textbook corporation by appointing Leoni who is infamous for his comments against women. Leoni has the habit of using derogatory language against political leaders and fails to fit for the post, OPS said. 

The objective of the textbook corporation is to roll out textbooks for government and private schools with rich syllabi focussing on Indian history, Tamil culture, freedom struggle, women empowerment, TN history, science and literature. The corporation in the past has rolled out books in English and Tamil from standard one to plus two and plays a major role in educating the younger minds. But by appointing Leoni there is a threat of spoiling the young minds of students through the syllabus. Terming Leoni as a bad choice, OPS said that CM Stalin should reconsider the appointment. 

It may be noted that the AIADMK alliance partner PMK had also objected to the appointment of Leoni. Condemning DMK for appointing Leoni PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramadoss has termed the appointment as a bad choice. 

Meanwhile, the newly appointed chairman Leoni had revived the debate over the term “union government” by proposing to replace the term “central govt” with “union government” in the textbooks printed by the corporation. “People have started using the term Union government very well and it has found great public acceptance after the media started using it widely,” Leoni told reporters on Thursday after calling on the chief minister M K Stalin at the secretariat.