The death of medical aspirant Anitha has led to the near political isolation of the BJP in Tamil Nadu. But its State president Tamilisai Soundararajan appears unperturbed and blames the DMK for converting Anitha’s death into a political rallying point. Excerpts from an interview:
The BJP has come under severe criticism after Anitha’s suicide but you are on a counter-attack mode…
This is not a change in strategy. On the first day, we had a meeting and decided to take on the DMK. Their track record is such that they seek to encash on agitations triggered by loss of life. DMK leader Stalin was repeatedly saying that if the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) was implemented, there would be student agitation, but now, admissions under NEET are almost completed. Their MLA S.S. Sivasankar took this girl (Anitha) to the Supreme Court and they lost it. After that, they could have protected the girl mentally. Internally, she was disturbed by the political activity of the DMK. The end indicates their intention was not good. They wanted a very big confusion in the name of NEET. They wanted to build their political fort on this confusion. Sadly, there was a loss of life. Now, they are deriving political mileage.
You were aggressively tweeting on Sunday including one tweet that said your party’s tolerance was being tested with protests against the PM…
Because the whole focus is on us. Look at my Twitter [feed]. You can oppose me, but they are using ugly words. The words they are using against the Prime Minister... The BJP is not a cause at all. When the State government asked for concession, we tried to give through an ordinance....Their [the protesters’] intention is not to oppose NEET. They want to defame the PM. Which is why I tweeted like that. People who are protesting against NEET have no idea what it is about; how it has benefitted the State. Everybody knows the PM is not part of it. Why do they want to put chappals on the PM?
Is NEET the sole reason for this anger?
The Central government is not at all a part of this [NEET rollout]; it is only the Supreme Court. If people are angry with those who brought this policy, then the Congress and the DMK initiated this. They want to thrash the BJP; exactly like in the case of jallikattu. If the Central government was imposing NEET, then why did it give a year’s exemption? One year is more than enough. It is not anger; it is an artificially created anti-BJP mood. They don’t want the BJP to gain strength in Tamil Nadu.
How do you see the State’s role?
When other States took NEET, this State too should have accepted that. They should have moved ahead and motivated students. Who kept the students indecisive?
Why was the State government compelled to do that? Because the opposition parties projected NEET as a demon.
Should Nirmala Sitharaman have announced that the Centre will cooperate with the State to get a NEET ordinance? Has she been given any TN-specific role?
I cannot comment on that. You have to remember that there was continuous pressure from the State government. That is why Nirmala projected that view. But after getting legal opinion, it could not be done. She was given an assignment by the party to study NEET.
Because she belongs to Tamil Nadu and because she has interest, she has been assigned to do various things by the party.
These things usually happen....I don’t know, I cannot say [whether she has been given a wider brief on Tamil Nadu]. Whatever it may be, with the interest of Tamil Nadu in mind, she did it.
