‘PM has no bias, he had only reacted to Congress manifesto,’ says Tamilisai Soundararajan
COIMBATORE: Former Governor and BJP’s South Chennai candidate Tamilisai Soundararajan on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not discriminate against minorities and he had only reacted to the Lok Sabha election manifesto of the Congress party.
Interacting with the media at the Coimbatore International Airport, Tamilisai asserted that Modi’s mantra is development and growth for all and he never differentiated between the minority and majority communities.
In a recent election speech the PM warned that the Congress wants to distribute the nation’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children” if it comes to power. This is widely deemed to be a reference to the Muslim community.
“Actually the PM stated that our country’s resources are plundered and our property should not go into the hands of infiltrators as over one crore who intruded into West Bengal were issued ration cards by the state government,” Tamilisai clarified.
In her defence of the BJP stalwart, Tamilisai also said even Muslims benefited from the central government’s popular schemes. “Muslims too were among the 10 crore beneficiaries of free LPG connections and the National Health Protection Scheme. However, the opposition parties are creating an impression that only they can protect the minorities. By projecting the BJP and Prime Minister Modi as against them (minorities) they are trying to make it a major issue in the election campaign,” she said.
Tamilisai also charged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was not in the country to speak against it. “We don’t know where he is now. It is sad the Congress is accusing the PM when the party is having a leader like Rahul Gandhi who is unable to stand with the people during the election,” said Tamilisai in an apparent reference to his recent absence from the poll campaign owing to ill-health.
While referring to the BJP government’s efforts to empower Muslim women, Tamilisai also took potshots at Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin.
“Despite CM Stalin speaking about women’s rights, he did not take steps to help Muslim women go to the Hajj alone. However, the PM has given visa relaxation and appointed a woman as the V-C of Aligarh Muslim University,” she remarked.
Tamilisai also raked up her party’s claim that the names of several eligible voters in the state were missing from electoral rolls. She urged the Election Commission to reconsider including the voters in the list as lakhs of voters were denied the right to franchise. “It’s sad that the Election Commission officials are saying that they can rectify the fault in the voters list only in the next election,” she said.
Tamilisai also questioned why CM Stalin, who is raising his voice even for small issues, remains silent over the alleged deletion of voters from the list. She also visited the temple near Perumanallur at her native place.
ECI urged to ban Modi’s campaigns
Madurai: Various human rights organisations like the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and the People’s Watch, have requested the ECI to impose a ban on PM Narendra Modi’s election campaigns, after he allegedly violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and used pejorative language against minority communities during a recent canvassing trail. The bodies collectively submitted a petition to Collector-cum-Returning Officer MS Sangeetha, in which they said that PM had made a hate speech in Rajasthan’s Banswara. Modi’s speech, the statement added, was aimed at instigating hatred between Hindus and Muslims.