CHENNAI: The rift in the BJP alliance in the state has widened with yet another ally, PMK founder S Ramadoss, strongly backing MDMK leader Vaiko’s criticism of Prime Minister Modi for wishing Rajapaksa success in the Presidential poll in the island nation and demanding the Centre support the UN war crimes probe.
“Modi is not beyond criticism,” Ramadoss asserted, adding “Vaiko echoes the sentiments of Tamils”. Rajapaksa had massacred more than a lakh Tamils, he charged and asked how could Tamils accept Modi greeting Rajapaksa.
Dismissing BJP State president Tamilisai Soudararajan’s request that allies should refrain from criticising Modi, he said “We need not take lessons from anyone on coalition dharma. BJP leaders should understand entry into an alliance per se is not mortgaging one’s policies”.
“If anyone thinks that pointing out mistakes is violation of alliance code, they simply lack tolerance to criticism”, the PMK leader explained.
On her suggestion that allies should air their differences to the BJP alone, he asked whether the BJP government had formed a co-ordination committee of alliance parties. PMK leaders had met the BJP Union ministers and submitted petitions against scrapping of railway projects in TN, but to no avail.
The Centre also turned down the pleas to support the UN war crimes probe against Rajapaksa and the request to allow UN Human Rights Commission team to conduct enquiries in TN, Ramadoss said. Where could the allies air their views, he asked, calling upon the BJP to accept healthy criticism and rectify mistakes.
At the BJP conference in Tiruchy on September 26 last year, Modi and Rajnath Singh promised
to find a permanent solution to the woes of Tamil Nadu fishermen and secure more political powers for Lankan Tamils by ensuring the implementation of the 13th amendment. Resolutions to that effect were passed at the meet and Modi repeated the promises in his public meetings during the election campaign in Tamil Nadu, he recalled.
“Although, six months have passed after the BJP government assumed power, it has not taken any step to implement their election promises and is it wrong to point this out”, he asked. All the parties in Tamil Nadu including the State BJP unit opposed military training to Sri Lankan army.
“Training for Sinhalese army continues in India and the Indian military officials are attending military conferences in the island nation”, he said.
The BJP government promised to develop all the languages in India in its manifesto, but after coming to power it was only focusing on imposing Hindi and Sanskrit and had not done anything for the development of other languages, the PMK leader alleged.