BJP claims to be a nationalist party but insults martyr: Congress

April 29, 2019 01:27 am | Updated 01:27 am IST - Thoothukudi

All India Congress Committee secretary in-charge of Tamil Nadu Sanjay Dutt on Sunday charged that the BJP, “which claims to be a nationalist party”, has been insulting the memory of martyr and former Mumbai Anti Terrorist Squad chief Hemant Karkare.

Addressing a meeting of party workers ahead of the Ottapidaram Assembly constituency bypoll, he charged that the BJP was supporting terrorism by fielding Pragya Thakur in Bhopal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to deflect attention from important issues, he said alleging that the BJP has given ticket to a terrorist, and she is speaking ill of someone who died protecting the people.

He alleged that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam were not loyal to former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who was against an alliance with the BJP.

Dubbing the AIADMK-BJP alliance as “unholy”, he claimed that the DMK-Congress alliance has a long history. “It dates back to the days of Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) and Indira Gandhi,” he said.

Mr. Dutt went on to support the controversial statement of DMK president M.K. Stalin, who asked the people to take cash for votes but choose their alliance in the election. “Whatever money they give you through corruption, take it, but vote against them,” he said.

At the same time, the Congress leader added, “Voters of Tamil Nadu have self-respect. The Election Commission should stop this (voter bribery), but it has been taking one-sided action.”

He said that the workers who brought “success” to DMK candidate Kanimozhi in the Lok Sabha election should work with the same vigour in the Ottapidaram bypoll.

“Votes for Kanimozhi would help make Rahul Gandhi Prime Minister. Votes for DMK candidate M.C. Shanmugaiya will help MK Stalin become Chief Minister,” he said.

MLA Anitha R. Radhakrishnan, TNCC working president Mayura Jayakumar, TNCC vice-president A.P.C.V. Shanmugam, DMK candidate M.C. Shanmugaiya, Congress district secretary C.S. Muralitharan and other leaders were present.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.