The AIADMK, at present, is a hollow shell controlled by the RSS and the BJP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday, launching a full-fledged attack on the ruling combine.
Addressing a conference of the DMK-led front, along with DMK president M.K. Stalin, in Salem, Mr. Gandhi said, “It is not the old AIADMK. This is an AIADMK with a mask. It looks like the AIADMK. If you take off the mask, you will find it is not the AIADMK, but the RSS-BJP behind the mask. That old AIADMK is dead... It is now a hollow shell controlled by the RSS and the BJP. The people of Tamil Nadu have to be careful and understand what is behind this mask.”
Mr. Gandhi said no Tamil person wanted to bow in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, or touch the feet of Home Minister Amit Shah or RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
The Congress leader asked why Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had submitted to the RSS, Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah. Mr. Gandhi said the Prime Minister controlled the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Chief Minister had been corrupt.
‘History under attack’
Whenever Mr. Palaniswami bowed in front of Mr. Modi, the people of Tamil Nadu had to pay a huge price for it, Mr. Gandhi added. He said the history and language of Tamil Nadu was under attack, but the Chief Minister did not say anything.
Mr. Gandhi said the biggest strength of Tamil Nadu was its small and medium businesses, and the State was the manufacturing capital of the country. Demonetisation and the GST regime were an attack on Tamil innovation and manufacturing, he added. Millions had lost their jobs owing to these measures, the Congress leader said.
The three farm laws were designed to steal from India and the farmers in the State, but the Chief Minister had not uttered a word against them, Mr. Gandhi said. The National Education Policy (NEP) was designed to harm Tamil Nadu, but the Chief Minister had not said anything. He had not even advanced a firm resistance to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), he added.
Mr. Gandhi said the Chief Minister had given permission to Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah to do whatever they wanted. The Tamil people would not tolerate such an attack on their history and culture, he said, adding that he could guarantee that Mr. Stalin would become the Chief Minister. He said the Tamil people had made a decision, and the election would be the process that would formalise it.
Mr. Gandhi said the RSS-BJP combine had unlimited resources and money. They should be first stopped in Tamil Nadu and then removed from Delhi, he said.
Mr. Stalin called Mr. Gandhi the “protector of Indian democracy”. He said Tamil Nadu had gone back by 50 years under the AIADMK regime and the Palaniswami government was submissive to Mr. Modi.
The DMK president said both Mr. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam were not bothered about the people. They were only concerned about “commission, collection and corruption”.
Mr. Stalin asked Mr. Gandhi to take charge and form an alliance of Opposition parties at the national level.
In Chennai, Mr. Gandhi said the AIADMK-BJP alliance in the State would be decimated in the Assembly election.
The BJP government at the Centre was resorting to a full-scale assault on the idea of India and Tamil Nadu, the Congress leader added.
‘Never bowed down’
“They want a Tamil Nadu that bows down to them. Tamil Nadu has never bowed down in its 3,000-year-old history. But it has embraced people who have given it love and respect,” he said, adding that his relationship with the people of Tamil Nadu was one of mutual respect and understanding.
“India cannot exist without Tamil Nadu,” he said. “I am not a Tamil, but I understand you. If I learn Tamil I will understand you more. I am trying to read some of your literature,” he said.
