Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvaperunthagai on Wednesday said the 2024 Lok Sabha election must be considered as the “second struggle for independence” and an ideological war.
Campaigning for Congress candidate S. Sasikanth Senthil, in Tiruvallur parliamentary constituency, he said DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had already informed him that the Congress candidate would definitely win and by a huge margin.
“Your vote is valuable. It is going to change the fate of the country. In the last 10 years, RSS and BJP’s ideology and policies have destroyed the country. This election is about protecting the constitution, reclaiming the country and defeating the RSS’ ideology,” he said.
Mr. Selvaperunthagai claimed that the RSS and BJP wanted to impose “one country, one election, one language” similar to China’s authoritarian regime.
“There is an attempt to bring “one President rule” in India, he claimed. “BJP took away Tamil Nadu’s rights and AIADMK supported them. Till Jayalalithaa was alive, she never consented to Uday scheme (Electricity). It was Edappadi K. Palaniswami who consented to Goods and Services tax and NEET. There is no difference between the BJP and the AIADMK – a vote for AIADMK is a vote for the BJP,” he said.
He contended that the BJP had ensnared the AIADMK and the fact that they fielded ‘Aatral’ Ashok (formerly with BJP) in Erode parliamentary constituency proved they were together. “PM Modi has not been able to fulfil the promises he has given. Not even Jayalalithaa could do it – she said she would give bikes to women...was she able to do it? But, Chief Minister Stalin has been able to fulfil his promises and more,” he said.
