Anbumani Ramadoss Urges TVK Government To Change Tamil Nadu Day Back To November 1

A political dispute has revived in Chennai over the celebration date of 'Tamil Nadu Day' after PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss urged the new TVK government to reverse a previous decision to mark the day on July 18. The debate resurfaced following a recent state government announcement organizing school competitions on July 18 to commemorate the occasion.

Ramadoss has urged the TVK administration not to follow the schedule established by the previous DMK government under former Chief Minister M K Stalin in 2022. He argued that November 1 is the historically accurate date to celebrate the formation of Tamil Nadu.

According to Ramadoss, Madras State officially came into existence on November 1, 1956, following the disintegration of the Madras Presidency, which acceded territories to other states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala based on linguistic majority. He called the choice of July 18 a "distortion of history" and noted that it was not the actual state formation day.

The dispute over the date has a political history. In 2019, former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami declared that November 1 would be celebrated as Tamil Nadu Day. However, after the DMK came to power, M K Stalin shifted the celebration to July 18.

The July 18 date commemorates the day in 1968 when the State Assembly passed a resolution to rename Madras State as Tamil Nadu during the tenure of C N Annadurai. This made it the first state in the country to be named after the language spoken by most of its people. However, the state was actually renamed on January 14, 1969.

With the DMK government leaving office about two months ago, political groups opposing the July 18 date have renewed their campaign. Ramadoss argued that July 18 only marks the initial resolution to rename the state rather than its actual formation, prompting this latest push for the TVK government to restore the November 1 date.