Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday made a strong pitch for MK Stalin, the leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) as the next chief minister of Tamil Nadu at an election rally in the state.

Gandhi said Stalin will head the next government in Tamil Nadu, which will vote for a new assembly in 2021. The Congress is fighting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the DMK on 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

“Our alliance is the alliance of the people of Tamil Nadu. Both parties believe in freedom, justice and freedom of speech. We will never ever allow the people of Tamil Nadu to be ruled by people from Nagpur,” said the Congress president taking a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological connection with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The RSS is headquartered in Maharashtra’s Nagpur.

Gandhi said, “Tamil Nadu is going to be ruled from Tamil Nadu. Stalin is going to be chief minister of Tamil Nadu.”

Tamil Nadu goes to the polls on April 18 for 39 parliamentary seats in the second phase of the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections. Simultaneous polling for 18 assembly constituencies in the by-election will also be held the same day.

In his election speech, Gandhi reiterated the Congress’s promise to give 33 per cent reservation to women in central government jobs and quota in legislatures if the party comes to power in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

“We are going to give reservation to women in the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha after we form government at the Centre. We are going to reserve 33 per cent central government jobs for women,” said Gandhi, who was addressing an election rally at Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu is witnessing a straight contest between the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-BJP- Pattali Makkal Katchi alliance and the DMK-Congress alliance.

The AIADMK, which is in power in Tamil Nadu, is contesting on 27 of 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu. The BJP has fielded candidates on seven Lok Sabha seats while the PMK is contesting in five parliamentary constituencies in the state.

In the Opposition camp, the Congress is contesting nine Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Naud while the DMK has fielded its candidates on the rest 30 seats in the state. The Congress is contesting the lone Puducherry Lok Sabha seat.

First Published: Apr 12, 2019 13:18 IST