TVK minister's video on ‘spoken English’ during school inspection sparks clash with DMK

A video of Tamil Nadu minister Keerthana Sampath’s recent interaction with students in a government school in Virudhunagar district has triggered a fresh row, with the DMK and the BJP accusing the minister of belittling government school students.

Viral video, accusations against DMK

In the viral video, shot during Keerthana’s visit to a government school near Sivakasi on July 2, she asks a girl student about her father’s profession. When the student is unable to answer, the minister tells the teacher that the child is “unable to answer even a simple question.”

When the teacher asks the same questions to the child, she hesitantly answers a few of them, including her father’s name and occupation.

Also read: Investors will soon make a beeline to Tamil Nadu: Minister Keerthana

While the episode could have remained a simple interaction during a regular inspection drive, what made it go viral was the minister’s comment later that the student’s inability to give straight answers in English was proof of the previous DMK government’s neglect of government schools.

DMK rebuts with ‘reels minister’ jibe

The DMK in return accused Keerthana of humiliating students during the school inspection.

Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin in a statement said the minister’s conduct was “shocking, disgusting and grossly insensitive.”

Calling Keerthana a “Reels Minister”, Udhayanidhi said she should stop using children for her own publicity and social media reels. He said, as a minister, her work is to instill confidence in children and not shatter it.

Sharing the viral video on X, DMK leader and former education minister Anbil Mahesh criticised Keerthana for labelling students as “last-benchers” and said such people should not enter school premises.

தான் நினைப்பதுதான் சரி என பிடிவாதம் பிடிப்பது ஆய்வின் பணி அல்ல! அமைச்சரின் பணியும் அதுவல்ல!

மாணவர்களை ஊக்கப்படுத்த வேண்டும். ஆசிரியப் பெருமக்களை ஊக்கப்படுத்த வேண்டும். அதை விடுத்து Last Bench என்று சுட்டிக்காட்டி பேசுபவர்கள் எல்லாம் பள்ளிகளுக்குள் செல்லாதீர்கள். மாணவச்… pic.twitter.com/yyAOmYqhml

— Dr. Anbil Mahesh (@Anbil_Mahesh) July 6, 2026

“Do not instill a sense of inferiority in these precious students,” he said.

The BJP too lashed out at the TVK minister over the said interaction, calling it an “excess” in the name of school inspection. State BJP president Nainan Nagenthran also urged Chief Minister Joseph Vijay to give clear guidelines to ministers on the conduct of official inspections given their lack of experience while demanding action against Keerthana.

‘I am a Tamil medium student myself’

Defending herself, Keerthana in a post on X said those spreading “false stories” against her should know that she herself is a product of a Tamil-medium government school. In the post, she shared a childhood photo of herself receiving a prize from a school teacher.

Also read: Who are the nine ministers sworn in with Vijay as Tamil Nadu CM?

Stating that she has had her own struggles in mastering English due to her Tamil-medium background, Keerthana said she deems it her responsibility to ensure an environment where a Tamil-medium school student holds her head high and speaks on any platform.

“Criticise me. Question my work. But don’t mock the self-confidence of an entire generation,” she said in the post.

Answering Udhayanidhi’s jibe on social media reels, she said she didn’t get the video shot and the one being circulated was footage captured by the media.

Questions for DMK

Throwing another shade at Udhayanidhi, she questioned how many of the children of politicians mocking her are students of government schools themselves.

இன்று சிலர், "அரசு பள்ளி மாணவியை கேலி செய்தார்" என்று ஒரு பொய்யான கதையை பரப்புகிறார்கள்.

உண்மை என்ன தெரியுமா?
நானே ஒரு அரசு பள்ளி மாணவி. நானே தமிழ் வழிக் கல்வியில் படித்தவள்.

இன்று என் ஆங்கிலத்தை வைத்து என்னை கேலி செய்கிறவர்கள், உண்மையில் என்னை மட்டும் அல்ல... என்னைப் போன்ற… pic.twitter.com/2ZKzH5bgX3

— Virudhai Magal Keerthana (@Keerthana4VNR) July 7, 2026

“How many of the children of the politicians mocking me today—and those supporting them—are actually studying in government schools, in the Tamil medium? For those who don't trust government schools, it's easy to mock a woman who studied in one. But the fact that this woman from that government school stands here today—that's my response,” she said.

Keerthana, the Minister for Industries and Investment Promotion in the C Joseph Vijay-led TVK government, has been relentlessly questioning the policies of the previous DMK government. She another post, she while sharing photos of a school in Sivakasi, asked the former education minister why most government schools in the state share the same decrepit condition.