The Raj Nivas on Tuesday clarified that Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan had upheld a decades-old tradition while administering the oath of office in Tamil and decried attempts to stir up a controversy by misrepresenting the denotation of the term ‘Union’, which applied to the Union Territory and not the Indian Union.
The clarification comes after the use of the term Ondriya (Union), in the pledge administered by the Lt. Governor while swearing in the Council of Ministers in the first NDA government in Puducherry on June 27, generated buzz on social media. This was especially so after the sparring over semantics in the wake of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s insistent reference to the Centre as Ondriya Arasu (Union Government) and not the Madhiya Arasu , raising the hackles among the Opposition BJP in the State.
In a statement, the Raj Nivas denied using the term Ondirya Arasu (Union Government) and stated that the oath of office was administered in Tamil without any change in the pledge in use over a decades-long tradition by the government of Puducherry.
As the Ministers took oath in Tamil and it was mentioned as "India Ontriya Puducherry Atchipparappu (Indian Union Territory of Puducherry)", with "Ontriya" being mentioned to refer to the Union Territory of Puducherry because of its history of being under French rule before it was merged with Indian Union, the press statement said.
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