BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday claimed the drug trade had become entrenched in Tamil Nadu and was spreading with the blessings of those in power.
At a Lok Sabha election meeting in Agasthiyarpatti, near Ambasamudram, he said the BJP would save the youngsters from Tamil Nadu’s “deep-rooted and menacingly spreading drug trade.”
“I and the BJP are here to save your children from this menace as we will not be mute spectators. I appeal to the voters of Tamil Nadu to back the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidates to uproot the drug menace and save your children,” he said.
Mr. Modi reiterated the charge that “family-run parties” of the DMK and the Congress, which according to him were only interested in corruption and not worried about the future of the State. The drug trade, which had become a major threat to Tamil Nadu, especially to youngsters, was spreading menacingly as it enjoyed the blessings of the people in power.
“But I will not be a mute spectator to this threat...I and the BJP will fight it out to uproot the drug trade in Tamil Nadu besides battling the corruption of the DMK and the Congress. I will save your children from drug abuse,” Mr. Modi promised.
While thanking the Tamil people for backing overwhelmingly the BJP and the NDA, he said the wholehearted support the national party was enjoying in Tamil Nadu now had given sleepless nights to the Congress and the DMK, which were doing everything possible to thwart the election campaign of the BJP.
“But, they can never harm your election work as I am with you and none can stop you,” said Mr. Modi, in an apparent reference to the registration of a case against BJP state president K. Annamalai and 300 others of poll code violation in Coimbatore, on Sunday night.
Accusing the DMK and the Congress of “disrespecting” freedom fighters of Tamil Nadu like V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, K. Kamaraj, Marudhu brothers, Velunatchiyar, and others and political leaders like AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran and late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, Mr. Modi said the BJP, to honour these stalwarts, had sanctioned a defence corridor to Tamil Nadu for manufacturing defence components.
“Moreover, they clandestinely ceded Katchatheevu (to Sri Lanka) and the Tamil fishermen are being punished for this anti-national act even today. The historic blunder should never be forgiven,” Mr. Modi said.
He appealed to the voters, especially those exercising their franchise for the first time, to back the BJP overwhelmingly to transform the younger generations’ dreams into reality and make India a ‘developed nation’ by 2047. He also said the BJP-led government, which loved the Tamil people, their culture, and traditions, would establish ‘Thiruvalluvar Cultural Centres’ across the globe besides putting all heritage sites of Tamil Nadu on the global tourism map.
While highlighting the promises made in the BJP’s poll manifesto, he said Tirunelveli, which had been sanctioned a Vande Bharat Train service for better connectivity to Chennai, would get a bullet train service in future for which the work would commence after the BJP government returns to power after the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
