KRISHNAGIRI : Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s repeated election campaigns in Tamil Nadu after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin made fun of it, comparing it to visits of ‘migratory bird’.
“In our country anybody can visit anywhere. Stalin should not have used that word ‘migratory bird’,” said Nirmala at Hosur on Friday.
Campaigning for BJP’s Krishnagiri Lok Sabha constituency candidate C Narsimhan at Hosur, she said, “People should not vote for the DMK, which is directly linked with drug case accused Jaffer Sadiq. People of Tamil Nadu were made addicts to liquor in the DMK regime. Also there is ‘sun rise’ only for a single DMK family and not for Tamil Nadu people. People in Tamil Nadu should reject them and vote for BJP and question the DMK on the poll day.”
Targeting the Congress, Nirmala said “There are only four classes in the country: the poor, farmers, women and youth. Development of these four classes will usher in development. The Congress worked only for the minorities. The BJP is working for the development of all these four classes.”
She further pointed out in Telugu that the Stalin’s family migrated from Ongole in Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu but acted as authorities of Tamil people and Tamil language.
The finance minister also listed a few Union government schemes that benefited people in Krishnagiri district. She cited a Rs 5,427 crore loan under PM Mudra Yojana availed by 6.3 lakh people, Rs 60 crore loan to 465 people under the Stand-Up India Scheme, loan under PM SVANidhi for 4,000 street vendors, 2.75 lakh pipeline connection 64,000 cards distributed under the Ayushman Bharat (National Health Protection Scheme) and others.
Nirmala also pointed out that during the Covid-19 pandemic the rate of fertilizer rose because of import, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked her not to burden farmers and to keep the prices low.
“Hosur in Krishnagiri district is one of the important defence corridors in Tamil Nadu. Out of the defence export revenue of about Rs 20,000 crore a major contribution is from Hosur. The BJP has brought many welfare schemes to Tamil Nadu. Earlier the DMK said ‘Go back modi’ and showed black flag. Various investments were brought to Tamil Nadu because of Modi’s visits,” the BJP leader said.