CHENNAI: A couple of days after softening his stand on DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, firebrand Eelam apologist and MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Thursday chose to fire his first ever salvo against the Modi government over the BJP taking part in a global meet in Colombo.
Vehemently opposing the participation of two senior BJP leaders in the eighth General Assembly meeting of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) in Colombo, Vaiko said “it is an unpardonable betrayal by the BJP and the party should recall its representatives immediately.”
Coming close on the heels of the Indian defence establishment and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy attending the strategic conclave in Colombo, this had raised the hackles in TN.
“I strongly condemn the participation of BJP leaders - Muralidhar Rao and Vijay Jolly- in this conference addressed by Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. The BJP has ignored sentiments of people of Tamil Nadu. The party should recall its leaders at once”, Vaiko said in a statement here.
Vaiko recalled that when TN opposed the decision of former PM Manmohan Singh to participate in the Commonwealth Summit at Colombo, Singh had retracted. The BJP’s decision to depute its leaders had added insult to injury.
Meanwhile, Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi founder T Velmurugan also condemned the BJP leaders’ participation in the meet. Reports from Colombo said BJP National General Secretary Muralidhar Rao, also party’s in charge of TN, met Lankan External Affairs Minister G L Peiris. A wide range of topics regarding India-Lanka relations were discussed in the meeting.