The youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a protest at Chepauk here on Monday to voice its opposition to the State government's liquor policy and demand the closure of Tasmac shops.
Though the protest appeared to be aimed at the ruling AIADMK government, most speakers at the stir were critical of the DMK and the Congress as well.
Senior BJP leaders including the party’s national general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao and State president Tamilisai Soundararajan took part in the protest, which was presided over by Poonam Mahajan, national president, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.
While opposition to liquor shops dominated the protest, the BJP leaders also spoke of the need to improve facilities in government schools and urged the State government to conduct the local body polls as soon as possible.
Addressing the crowd amid chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, Ms. Mahajan criticised DMK working president M.K. Stalin for “adopting Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi as his tuition master.” According to her, the DMK perpetuated family rule, while only Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP could ensure that the aspirations of the youth are fulfilled.
Mr. Rao claimed that Mr. Stalin was simply echoing Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s political views. “If Rahul Gandhi speaks about Hindi, Stalin also speaks about it. If Rahul Gandhi talks about Kashmir, Stalin also talks about it,” he said.
Asserting that Mr. Modi was immensely popular among the youth in Tamil Nadu, he said, “We care about the Tamil fishermen who are routinely attacked by the Sri Lankan armed forces. “In 24 hours, Modi managed to get 75 fishermen freed by Sri Lanka. Has the Congress government done anything like that?” he asked. “Establishing more liquor stores than schools is the only achievement of the Dravidian parties,” quipped BJP national secretary H. Raja, adding, “If we don’t control this alcohol menace in society, it [the society] can never recover. It was DMK chief M. Karunanidhi who lifted prohibition.”
