AIADMK, DMK snub PM Modi, refuse to be friends again

CHENNAI: A day after PM Narendra Modi said his party was open to aligning with "old friends," both DMK and AIADMK rejected BJP, one calling it communal and the other dubbing it a loser.

While DMK president M K Stalin said Modi was not Vajpayee to attract allies, AIADMK minister Kadambur K Raju said lotus will never bloom in TN and BJP candidates in Tamil Nadu will not get back their election deposit money.

Stalin said, "In the last four-and-a-half years, Modi has been only speaking and making promises. During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he called himself a friend of the backward classes, SCs and STs. But after coming to power, he has buried social justice in the country."

Stalin recalled that former DMK chief M Karunanidhi had called Vajpayee a right person in a wrong party. "Modi comparing himself with Vajpayee is a joke. It is just Modi's campaign strategy," said Stalin. Despite having difference of opinion with BJP on its ideology and its stand on many issues, DMK agreed to work with it based on a common minimum programme during Vajpayee's term. Once the BJP started showing its communal colour, DMK walked out of the alliance, he said. After Modi became PM, Tamil Nadu has become powerless. The state is being deprived of its rights, said Stalin. Reacting to Stalin's comments, BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan said Modi's invitation was not meant for DMK, which was already an ally of Congress. She said Modi was referring to DMDK and PMK and not DMK as Stalin sought to make out. Stalin's response indicated that he was keen on tying up with BJP, she said.

Minister Raju took on Soundararajan for her reported statement on "unhealthy governance" in Tamil Nadu. The minister said people will decide if the AIADMK is giving good and healthy governance, "people like Tamilisai Soundararajan need not give us a certificate". The AIADMK has governed the state for 28 years, he said.