DMK president M K Stalin on Friday asserted that his party will not ally with the BJP, besides taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for comparing himself with another BJP PM, the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
DMK president MK Stalin greets women before addressing a ‘gram sabha’ meeting in Kancheepuram
Chennai:
Stalin’s statement came a day after Modi announced that the BJP’s gates are open to old friends, in a bid to encourage parties to join its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“I would like to make it categorical again that DMK will never forge an alliance with the BJP-led by Narendra Modi,” he said and hit out at Modi for not doing anything to strengthen India’s integrity.
The DMK leader alleged that Modi, who calls himself as a friend of backward communities during the election time, has not done justice to the SC/ST community.
Accusing the Prime Minister of not guarding pluralism, Stalin flayed him for allegedly treating with disdain values like secularism, social justice and federalism in his (Modi’s) rule.
Recalling his late father M Karunanidhi’s statement that Vajpayee was a right person in the wrong party, Stalin said Modi’s statement (on comparing himself with the former PM) was strange and surprising.
“Neither he (Modi) is Vajpayee nor does the NDA have a strong alliance, which was created by Vajpayee,” he added.
Under Vajpayee the agenda for governance was “not divisive,” he said adding his party had joined the NDA (in 1999) under the late leader only for a stable government to ensure growth.
“The DMK was part of the NDA during Vajpayee’s regime since the Central government provided good governance under the Common Minimum Programme (CMP),” Stalin said, adding that his party came out the alliance once voices of communalism started to emerge.
Tamil Nadu had been deprived of its rights under Modi’s rule and its people will not forget it, Stalin added.