The ensuing election to State Assembly is not just for a change of guard, but to teach a lesson to the “fascist” Bharatiya Janata Party and its “slave” All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, said Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M.K. Stalin here on Thursday.
Addressing a “political awakening” conference organised by Communist Party of India, Mr. Stalin said the election was for bringing about an ideological change. The Secular Progressive Alliance led by the DMK was not for election but for ideology, whereas the alliance of the AIADMK was for mutually saving each other.
“While BJP wants to set its foot in Tamil Nadu through AIADMK, the State ruling party wants to escape from the corruption charges against it with the help of BJP. It is a selfish alliance,” he charged.
Recalling the recent meeting in Chennai in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had jointly lifted the hands of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Pannerselvam, Mr. Stalin said Modi’s hands stood for saffron and corporates.
Stating that the DMK front represented the working class and farmers, he added that the election was to retrieve the State from looting gang and slaves and hand it over to ideologists.
Modi’s quote
He took a dig at the Prime Minister for merely quoting the works of Tamil poets without standing for values they preached. While Avvaiyar’s words, which the Prime Minister had quoted, stressed that elevation of the king depended on fertility of land, Mr. Stalin wondered how come Mr. Modi who was attempting to snatch the land of farmers through farm laws could use the words of Avvaiyar.
The Prime Minister had promised that his government would always uphold the rights of Tamil fishermen. But the killing of Tamil fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy continued even now. He could not prevent it.
The Centre had launched an economic attack on its citizens by increasing the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas. Even when international price of crude oil was coming down, the Centre continued to increase the price of fuel. It had led to increase in transport fare and spiralling price of essential commodities.
The AIADMK had given up all the State’s rights on education, agriculture and power. It had neglected Tamil and allowed imposition of Hindi, Mr. Stalin said.
CPI leader D. Raja said the Centre was against federalism, secularism and social justice. “It wanted to protect the corporates whereas the real wealth creators are the working class,” he said.
Stating that privatisation of public sector units would deny reservation to the oppressed and backward classes, he said Tamil Nadu government never questioned the Centre on these issues. The AIADMK should be punished for its flaws, he said.
