MADURAI: Launching a high-voltage political broadside at the centre, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday called upon people to turn the tables on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his upcoming visit to Madurai with questions on its (BJP-led union government) poor treatment of the state.
Addressing a massive
‘En Vakkuchavadi–Vetri Vakkuchavadi’ (My Booth–Winning Booth) training programme for BLA-2, BLC and BDA functionaries at Kalaignar Thidal in Uthangudi attended by over 1.56 lakh booth-level workers, Stalin listed a series of demands that he wants the people to raise when Modi arrives in the temple city on March 1.
“When the PM comes to Madurai on March 1, the people here must ask him: Why are you not sanctioning the Metro Rail project for Madurai? Where is the Metro for Coimbatore? Why the AIIMS project did not take off? Why are you refusing to exempt our students from the ‘death exam’ NEET? Why are you withholding the Keeladi excavation report?” Stalin thundered.
“Why is the centre trying to punish Tamil Nadu, which excels in education, by withholding education funds through the three-language policy? He (PM) has all the time in the world to speak about Metro for others, but not for us,” Stalin added, referring to Modi’s recent remarks about Metro rail ridership.
The DMK president’s meeting of the party’s booth-level agents, digital agents, and booth committee members here comes at a time when the ruling party is pulling out all the stops to retain power in the state in the upcoming Assembly elections, banking heavily on its ‘Dravidian Model’ welfare schemes and a sharp anti-centre narrative.
Lashing out at AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami, the CM said, “The opposition leader has turned into a traitor who doesn’t have the courage to even place these demands of TN before the PM.”
Referring to the state government crediting Rs 5,000 directly into the bank accounts of 1.31 crore woman beneficiaries of ‘Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai’ recently, Stalin claimed that many rushed to withdraw the money for fear that the centre would seize it. “The DMK government gives to the people; the BJP government takes away,” he said, adding that social welfare schemes like the monthly grant for women would continue only when the DMK rule continued in office for another term.
The CM said, “We have held seven massive conferences in two months, meeting over 9.3 lakh workers. What you are seeing now is just the trailer, the main picture is yet to come,” Stalin said, announcing a mega rally in Tiruchy on March 30. “Target 200+ seats. We should win all the constituencies in this southern region,” Stalin added.
Rejecting the BJP’s campaign, Stalin framed the upcoming election as a battle between “Tamil Nadu” versus “Delhi team”. “If Tamil Nadu has to win, the DMK and its secular front have to win. The servile AIADMK and the anti-Tamil BJP must lose their deposits in all constituencies,” he asserted. “We are the movement that saw the Emergency. We are not afraid of the CBI, ED, or I-T. Out of all opposition parties in India, the BJP government targets the DMK the most because we stand up for the rights of this state.”
Uphold Gandhian principles
Addressing the gathering at Gandhi Museum at an event, ‘Marvoom – Remembering Bapuji and Brothers’, organised by Kamal Panpattu Maiam, in presence of MNM leader and MP Kamal Haasan, the CM said the event serves as a reminder to firmly uphold Gandhian principles at a time when party (targeting BJP) at the centre is driven by “politics of hatred”. The BJP government is attempting to erase “Mahatma Gandhi” from the minds of the people. “Having moved beyond undermining Gandhian principles, the party is now trying to wipe out even Gandhi’s name,” he said, pointing out to the removal of Gandhi’s name from VB–G RAM G, the rural job scheme that replaced MGNREGA.
Alliance party leaders such as MDMK’s Vaiko, TNCC chief K Selvaperunthagai, CPM’s P Shanmugam, CPI’s M Veerapandian, and VCK’s Thol Thirumavalavan, among others, took part in the event.