CHENNAI: The DMK’s mouthpiece, Murasoli, has criticised the BJP for its alleged double standards when it comes to the welfare of migrant workers. The paper referred to an incident in 2012 in Karnataka when workers from the North East were forced to flee following rumours of imminent attacks on them under the rule of Jagadish Shettar of the BJP. The paper charged the then BJP-led government in the neighbouring state did not take steps to prevent the exodus of the guest workers.
The write-up comes in response to the heated arguments between BJP and DMK leaders over the recent fake news about attacks on migrant workers from Bihar in Tamil Nadu. The editorial referred to the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP as a camp of half-boiled people.
It recalled that rumours about the safety of the workers belonging to the northeastern states drove them to their native places in August 2012. Except for the then Karnataka home minister, R Ashoka, who visited the railway station once, there were no other steps taken by the BJP government.
Taking a dig at the Bihar and Tamil Nadu units of the BJP, the article said to gain political mileage in Bihar, the party had spread false news that the Bihar migrant employees were attacked and murdered in Tamil Nadu. It said the BJP tried to take political mileage by citing the links Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and the Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav has with the DMK. It said the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP extended support to the Bihar unit for spreading the blatant false news.