Only if a majority of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidates from Tamil Nadu are sent to the Lok Sabha, will the State get justice in all the issues, including the massacre of the Tamils in Sri Lanka and the inter-State river disputes, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam founder Vaiko has said.
Addressing the NDA cadres at Tirumangalam near here, Mr.Vaiko, who is the MDMK candidate for the Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituency, said it was certain that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA would cross the 272-seat benchmark to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister, even without considering the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Pudhucherry. “But, if the NDA candidates from the State were not elected, even if Mr.Modi wanted to help Tamil Nadu get justice, it will be difficult to make his cabinet colleagues from other parties in other States realise the issues of the Tamils,” he said.
He noted that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre had betrayed the State with regard to Mullai Periyar, Cauvery and Palar river water issues, the killing of 578 Tamil fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy and the massacre of lakhs of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
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Stating that whenever the voters of the State wanted to defeat one of the Dravidian parties, they voted only for another Dravidian party, fearing that their favourite party might not win the elections. “Thus the neutral voters have helped both the DMK and the AIADMK to get power,” he said.
Recalling Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s election speech at Virudhunagar on Friday that people should not waste their votes by casting them for parties that would not win the elections, he said, “The Chief Minister is making a negative statement. But, I am positive that the NDA will win all the 40 seats in the State and Pudhucherry.”
Stating that he had been jailed 28 times — amounting to four years — in his 50 years of political life, Mr.Vaiko sought votes for himself as he had a “duty” to get the Tamils justice by bringing to book the culprits behind the massacre of Lankan Tamils.
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NDA leaders Mohanrajulu (BJP), MLA A.K.T. Raja (DMDK) and Veera Kumar (PMK) were among those who addressed the meeting.