CHENNAI: DMK youth wing secretary and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said that it was because of Tamil Nadu’s struggle that Governor R N Ravi is now learning to speak Tamil, or else “all of us would have been speaking Hindi by now”.
Udhayanidhi was responding to Ravi’s remark in Tamil, “With whom is Tamil Nadu fighting now?” — a critique aimed at the DMK’s campaign slogan “Tamil Nadu will fight, Tamil Nadu will win”. He also said that “Ravi has started his election campaign, which will only favour the DMK”.
“Tamil Nadu will fight for social justice and state rights, and it will fight against communalism, casteism, and Hindi imposition. In total, TN will fight against the fascist BJP,” Udhayanidhi elaborated.
Speaking at the centenary celebration of V Anaimuthu, late leader of the Marxist-Periyarist Pothuvudaimai Katchi, Udhayanidhi also took a veiled dig at Vijay’s TVK cadre, saying, “An ideology-less crow is emerging.”
The event was held at RA Puram and was presided over by Periyarist writer Valasa Vallavan. DMK deputy general secretary A Raja and Minister S S Sivasankar, among others, took part. “The old slaves are not enough for the BJP, hence they are looking for new ones. No matter how many slaves the BJP joins hands with, the 2026 Assembly elections will prove that Tamil Nadu is a land of self-respect,” said Udhayanidhi.
“Since the BJP is unable to gain the people’s support directly here, it is riding on the AIADMK’s shoulders by intimidating them. We are also celebrating the centenary of the Self-Respect Movement, but (AIADMK general secretary) Edappadi K Palaniswami does not have an iota of self-respect,” he said, adding that
“Palaniswami, who has taken the AIADMK on rent, has now sublet it to others”.
