The Bharatiya Janata Party will transfer Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service officers to Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh if they refer to the Centre as the Union government, party leader from Tamil Nadu H Raja has said, reported The New Indian Express on Monday.

“If officers use Union government, we will make them face Adityanath and bulldozer,” Raja said during an event in Tenkasi on Saturday. “They say they are using the term [Union] as per the Constitution. I am not only a chartered accountant but also a lawyer. Union of States does not refer to states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.”

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, after assuming power in the state in 2021, has started referring to the government of India as “Ondriya Arasu” in Tamil, or Union government, instead of earlier used term “Maththiya Arasu”, or Central government, in official communications and press releases.

The DMK has justified the change as reflecting the correct constitutional position. According to its leaders, the Constitution describes India as a “Union of States” and therefore the ideal reference to the Centre would be the “Union government”.

The move has been opposed by the BJP who describe it is an attempt to take a confrontational approach with the Centre. The BJP has also alleged that DMK’s intention behind the move was to start a “process of separation” of Tamil Nadu from India.

On Saturday, Raja said that a serving IAS officer is calling the Central government as Union government, and challenged him to do so in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.

“He is in Central service. Imagine if he is transferred to Madhya Pradesh the next day!” Raja said, according to India Today. “Will he still keep saying Union government? Don’t they have any shame?”

He also added that those who use the term the Union government are anti-national and added that those discussing Tamil nationalism should be jailed under the Goondas Act, reported The New Indian Express.

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