Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday asked the Centre in a tweet why Gujarati was allowed in the JEE-Main and not other regional languages for question papers.

“I love Gujarati language. But, why have other regional languages been ignored? If Gujarati has to be there, then all regional languages including Bengali must be there…. Unless this issue is decided gracefully, there will be strong protests all around as sentiments of people who speak other regional languages would be deeply hurt due to this injustice,” she said in the tweet.

She said the exams were so long held in English and Hindi. “Surprisingly, now only Gujarati language has been added. Such a step is not at all praiseworthy,” Mamata said on Twitter.

“Our country is India, which is home to so many religions, cultures, languages, creeds and communities.… However, maligning all regions and regional languages is the intention of the government at the Centre…. Why injustice is being meted out to them?”

The Central Board of Secondary Examinations had in 2014 added Urdu, Marathi, and Gujarati apart from English and Hindi to the medium of the exams. In 2016, the CBSE dropped Urdu and Marathi.

The National Testing Agency set up by the Centre took charge of the exams from the CBSE in 2019 and it has notified that question papers will be in Hindi, English, and Gujarati in the 2020 JEE-Main slated in January. The JEE-Main is the first round of exams for selection to IITs.

The Telegraph had reported on Wednesday that the JEE-Main advisory committee had decided to drop Gujarati as a medium for question papers from January 2021. Questions will be in Hindi and English only, an official of the National Testing Agency had said.

Education minister Partha Chatterjee had said on Wednesday that the state government had sent a letter to the HRD ministry requesting it to add Bengali as the medium of question in the exam.

Mamata’s nephew and Trinamul MP Abhishek Banerjee had said on Twitter on Tuesday: “Constitution mandates equality for all. Why only options for Hindi, English, Gujarati? JEE Main (2020) must be conducted in all regional languages, including Bengali, Oriya, Kannada, Telegu, Tamil, Marathi. Any linguistic discrimination is unconstitutional.”