Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai on Saturday, July 29, 2023 said it was the DMK that had to carry out a yatra to the pilgrimage site of Rameswaram to absolve itself of its sins.
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He was responding to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s speech, in which he accused the BJP of commencing its yatra in Tamil Nadu to absolve itself of its many sins such as the Gujarat riots of 2002 and the ongoing violence in Manipur. Talking to the media after an interaction with a group of fishermen at Mandapam near Rameswaram, he said Rameswaram would be an apt place for Mr. Stalin and his family to absolve themselves of their sins.
Earlier in a tweet, he alleged that it was the DMK and the party’s “first family” that had committed many sins which, according to him, included the ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, the killing of Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy during the United Progressive Alliance’s rule and the killing of Tamil people during the final Eelam War.
During his interaction with the fishing community, he said the arrests of Tamil fishermen and seizures of their boats by Sri Lanka had greatly reduced after the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014. Acknowledging that many issues still persisted, he said they were being sorted out.
He commenced the second day of his ‘En Mann En Makkal (My land, my people)‘ yatra from Arulmigu Valividu Murugan Temple in Ramanathapuram on Saturday evening. Thronged by the party cadre, the yatra took more than one and a half hours to cover a distance of 1.5 kilometre. Mr. Annamalai briefly interacted with the public at a few spots.
In his speech, he said seeing the welcome the yatra received in the last two days he was convinced that the people of Ramanathapuram Parliamentary constituency had resolved to vote to re-elect Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third term in the 2024 general elections.
Stating that many people in Rameswaram and Ramanathapuram had expressed their wish that Mr. Modi should contest from the constituency, he said party leaders in Tamil Nadu would convey it to the Central leadership.
Criticising INDIA, formed by the Opposition parties, he said there was no clarity on who would become the Prime Minister if the coalition won.
Mr. Annamalai would be covering Mudukulathur and Paramakudi during his yatra on Sunday.
