In what appears to be the latest protest against the Centre’s push to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states, Biju Janata Dal leader Tathagatha Satpathy wrote an Odia letter in response to union minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s Hindi letter inviting him to a government programme.

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As per an Outlook report, Satpathy received a letter in Hindi from Union Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Tomar on August 11 inviting him to a programme by the government. In response, Satpathy sent out a reply in Odia telling him that he doesn’t understand Hindi.

The BJD’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha then told the media that he would send a reply to Tomar in a language he himself understands.

“Shri Narendra Singh Tomar ji,

I have received your letter dated 11/08/2017. Thank you for that. But I would like to inform you that I can't understand anything written in this letter as I don't understand Hindi language. I would also like to state that our state Odisha falls in the C category so kindly send us letter in English or Odia.

May Lord Jagannath bless you!”