BJP’s national secretary H. Raja has demanded that the DMK disassociate itself from Periyar and C.N. Annadurai as its treasurer M.K. Stalin said it was a party of the Hindus.
“I welcome Stalin’s statement. Anna and EVR (Periyar) were against Hinduism. Hence, their pictures should not be used in DMK posters or else it will amount to cheating people,” he told reporters on Sunday.
He added that he expected an announcement from Stalin that his party no longer has a connection with Periyar and Annadurai.
Mr. Raja said that slaughter of cow is legal only in eight States in the country - six States in north-east except Manipur, West Bengal and Kerala.
“All the other States including Tamil Nadu have anti-cow slaughter laws in place. BJP had implemented the beef ban in three States – Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand, while the laws in other States were brought during the Congress regime,” he said.
He said even the Directive Principles of the Constitution called for protection of cows and its progeny. “The beef ban is being used to attack BJP,” he added.
He condemned the government for failing to act against “Muslim fundamentalists” for assaulting prison personnel inside Puzhal prison and also during the Ambur clash.
In reply to a question on alliance for TN Assembly polls, he said that BJP headed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and would approach the people as NDA. The Congress has been isolated at the national level, he added.
Fishermen issue
On the fishermen issue, Mr. Raja said Indian fishermen should show restraint in using pair-trawling nets (rettai madippu valai) that has been banned in Sri Lanka. The Centre was ready to spend to improve infrastructure for deep sea fishing and it was up to the fishermen associations to accept the proposal, he said.
On the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, he said there was nothing wrong in bringing about a uniform selection method.
