At its special general body meeting in Chennai on Sunday, the PMK, an ally of the BJP and the AIADMK, issued a call for adopting an Assembly resolution against the proposed National Register of Citizens. However, the party defended its support for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, describing it as a “very normal law and amendment”.
PMK youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss said, “There is no clarity among the people about CAA, a law that gives citizenship to minorities (Hindus, Jains, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs and Parsis) from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is a very normal law and amendment. It does not take anyone’s citizenship away. It is not mentioned anywhere in the law that someone’s citizenship will be taken away.”
At the same time, he said the NRC was “absurd and dangerous”. “The PMK is against it, and it is not needed. The party founder (S. Ramadoss) has opposed it on many occasions and has written to Prime Minister Modi [about it]. It is not only us, but the Tamil Nadu government also agrees with this. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said he had spoken to Modi about NRC, and that the latter had told him that NRC will not be implemented in India,” Dr. Ramadoss said.
The party leadership urged its cadre to work hard to put the PMK in positions of power in the State in order to implement its “dream policies”. Dr. Ramadoss urged MLA-hopefuls to mingle with the public as the 2021 Assembly election, which will be held in the absence of two tall leaders, M. Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa, following their death, is an important one for the party.
He claimed that a DMK man had told him that money meant for distribution to voters had already been sent to 37 constituencies. “The DMK is fully dependent on money and Prashant Kishor (its election strategist). But we trust the people,” he said.
Dr. Ramadoss said a decision on an alliance will be taken before the Assembly election.