Only when the INDIA bloc forms the next government in New Delhi, will States including Tamil Nadu, neglected in the last decade, again witness robust growth, said DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin here on Wednesday.
Speaking at an election meeting held here to seek support for the DMK candidate Thanga Tamilselvan, who is contesting from Theni Lok Sabha constituency and Sachidanandan of the CPI(M) from the Dindigul Lok Sabha constituency, he said that for very many reasons, the BJP should not come again to power in New Delhi.
“The country is in danger in the BJP’s hands. The people have been divided by caste, creed and community. The democracy is in deep trouble. There is an urgent need to save the nation. The slogan ‘we don’t want Modi’ should resonate all over the nation,” he said.
The remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Congress manifesto was undesirable and disgusting.
Mr. Modi’s statements during his visits to Tamil Nadu that the BJP would bring in a change for good would never work, said the Chief Minister. The people here would not fall prey to such false designs and sugar-coated statements. “The people here are intelligent and would not be carried away,” he said and asked the crowd if he was right.
No outside force required
Replying to AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s allegations that the DMK was bent upon destroying the AIADMK, Mr. Stalin said that such outside forces were not required as Mr. Palaniswami himself was sufficient enough to preside over the end of the party.
The very fact that after the demise of Jayalalithaa, Mr. Palaniswami had not been able to win the elections showed that he was a failure. Both the people (voters) and the cadres have rejected him, election after election. This would repeat now in April 19 poll too, he added.
Pulls up Dhinakaran
Mr. Stalin recalled the remarks made by AMMK coordinator TTV Dhinakaran against the BJP and wondered if he had forgotten them probably to save himself from the pending criminal cases including those under FERA booked against him. He is contesting with the BJP’s support in Theni.
The AMMK leader had once stated that he would not align with the BJP as it would be equivalent to death by suicide. He had also described the BJP as a party which polled votes slightly higher/lower than the NOTA in elections, Mr. Stalin said and wanted the people to question Mr. Dhinakaran.
PMK ‘opportunist’
He also described the Pattali Makkal Katchi as an opportunist for aligning with the BJP and said he would not speak any further as he had high respects to the PMK founder S. Ramadoss.
The DMK, he said, had always stood by the principles of social justice and believed in preserving the democratic fabric.
The BJP and Mr. Modi had nothing else to speak of, and hence spoke continually of corruption and dynasty politics. Describing Mr. Modi as first order corrupt politician, Mr. Stalin said that if a university for corruption was established, Mr. Modi may be the Chancellor and narrated the tale of electoral bonds.
He said that whenever the DMK had supported the Centre in the past (UPA for instance), Tamil Nadu benefited by way of getting mega projects, whereas it was not so when the AIADMK or the PMK were part of the Centre as they alone were the beneficiaries.
Supporting the BJP government’s major Bills and proposals in Parliament including the farmers’ Bill then, the AIADMK had now taken a different view. He cautioned the public not to believe the tactics as the AIADMK was nothing but the ‘B’ team of the BJP, he said.
The DMK government’s Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme had not only become a role model to other States in the country, but even a progressive nation too had announced that it would start providing breakfast to its children. He said that the free bus for women passengers in Tamil Nadu had become so popular among the women that they named it as ‘Stalin bus’. The DMK’s rivals were unable to stomach the popularity of the government and the successful implementation of the welfare programmes, he claimed.
Thanking the people of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for having voted in favour of the DMK alliance in 39/40 seats in 2019 Lok Sabha election, he said the DMK front had lost only Theni, when the people voted O.P. Raveendranath. However, he appealed to the voters to give them 40/40 this election.
