NE NEWS SERVICE
VILLUPURAM, FEB 28
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday launched a broadside against the Congress and the DMK over dynasty politics, saying the respective parties were only worried about their first families and pitched his BJP-led NDA as pro-development which would ensure growth.
தமிழ்நாட்டில், விழுப்புரத்தில் வெற்றிப் பேரணி நடைபெற்றது. Vijay Sankalp Rally in Villupuram, Tamil Nadu. Watch Live! https://t.co/GewbrSsMea
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) February 28, 2021
While Congress President Sonia Gandhi was ”worried” about making her son Rahul Prime Minister, DMK chief M K Stalin was worried about making his son Udhayanidhi the state Chief Minister, he said.
Addressing a Vijay Sankalp election rally here ahead of the April 6 Assembly polls in the state, Shah asked people to choose between the “sons and daughters of kings and emperors” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development agenda.
The DMK-Congress alliance “believes in dynasty politics,” he charged.
Congress and DMK are synonymous with corruption. They only care about their families, neither state nor the country.
I urge people of Tamil Nadu to re-elect the NDA with absolute majority, so that we can further our efforts towards the development of the state. pic.twitter.com/OgwvUCNjMc
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) February 28, 2021
“On one side there is the NDA that protects India. Today none can dare do anything in India’s borders. Pakistan dared to do things in Uri, Pulwama. Narendra Modi taught it a lesson by entering its house (and carry out attacks) by directing the military,” he said in reference to the Balakot air strikes.
The Indian Air Force had in February 2019 attacked terror launch pads in Pakistan’s Balakot area,days after over 40 CRPF jawans were killed in a terror attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.
“On the other side, you have the DMK and Congress parties who are only worried about their families, (which are) steeped in corruption and do the politics of divide and rule.
“Sonia ji is worried about making Rahul Prime Minister. Stalin is worried about making Udhayanidhi chief minister. They are not worried about the country. They are worried about their family,” he charged.
People of Tamil Nadu have to make up their mind, to choose between these two coalitions, with the ruling AIADMK being part of the NDA.
“You have to decide in the coming days — whether give the rule to sons and daughters of kings and emperors or vote for development of Tamil Nadu. Whether to make Udhayanidhi the chief minister or (ensure) the (welfare) fishermen.”
“..whether to make Rahul Gandhi Prime Minister or for taking Narendra Modi’s development agenda forward. The people of Tamil Nadu have to decide,” he said.
The voters have to choose ”Lotus” and ”Two Leaves,” the respective symbols of the BJP and the AIADMK, he said. The AIADMK-BJP coalition will work on the philosophy of the late chief ministers M G Ramachandran (AIADMK founder) and J Jayalalithaa, besides that of his party, Shah said. Hailing Ramachandran as the true “Makkal Thilagam,” (people’s leader) Shah said he was reminded of the stalwart when he saw Modi working for the Dalits, backward and oppressed today, recalling the Tamil Nadu veteran’s service for these sections.
He also said the Central railway station had been named after MGR by the Prime Minister.
Ridicules Stalin for speaking on corruption issues
Ridiculing Stalin for speaking on corruption issues, Shah asked him to “look within,” asking “who did the 2G (spectrum allocation) scam” in which party MPs Kanimozhi and A Raja are accused.
The DMK was part of the Congress-led government when the lead party did “Rs 12 lakh crore” worth scams, he added.
There was a “2G —two generations of (DMK leader) Maran, 3G — three generations of the late Karunanidhi and 4G — four generations of Congress” in the opposition alliance, Shah said.
Questioning Gandhi for his support for jallikattu in Tamil Nadu, which he witnessed in Madurai in January, Shah said the Congress party’s election manifesto for the 2016 assembly polls batted for a ban against the bull-taming sport.
The Modi government got it back after it was banned earlier, Shah recalled.
All praise for EPS-OPS duo
Lauding the government under CM K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam, Shah lauded it for the state’s fight against coronavirus and pointed out at Tamil Nadu leading in many sectors and winning accolades.
The Union Finance Minister, “Tamil Nadu’s daughter” Nirmala Sitharaman gave a good budget while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also hailed from the state, he pointed out.
Listing out the Modi government’s performance in various sectors, Shah said it has done work in the /housing and energy sector in the last seven years, which the Congress could not do in 70 years after independence.
By 2022, there will be no one without a house while 13 crore women in various regions have benefited from the Centre’s free LPG scheme, he said.
The government will ensure total coverage of building toilets for the poor by 2022, he added.
Modi has also never compromised with Tamil Nadu’s development and has ensured all allocations like Rs 63,000 crore for the second phase of Chennai Metro, besides many other projects, Shah added.
On the state BJP”s earlier Vel Yatra, taken out by TN chief L Murugan to protest against a rationalist group allegedly denigrating the Tamil divine hymn Kandasashti Kavacham sung in praise of Lord Muruga, Shah rued “we have to struggle for our culture.”
There should be a government in the state where such struggles would not be required, he said in an apparent reference to the BJP-led NDA.
Harping on the Tamil pride, he pointed out at Modi’s Sunday ”Mann ki Baat” on Sunday where the PM regretted he could not learn Tamil.
“Without the great Tamil culture, India”s culture is incomplete,” Shah said.
The leader, who addressed in Hindi, apologised for not being able to talk in Tamil, “one of the oldest languages in the country,” a sweet one.
