Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said the DMK-Congress model was based on “corruption and appeasement” [of minorities]. This, according to him, would affect the social fabric of Tamil Nadu.
Addressing a conference of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in Salem, Mr. Singh said the “success” of the BJP’s ‘Vetrivel Yatra’ had shaken the DMK and the Congress.
The people of Tamil Nadu will only like a combination between “lotus” and “two leaves”, and only they can bring prosperity to the State, he said.
Mr. Singh said Narendra Modi was the first Prime Minister to visit Jaffna and 27,000 houses had been constructed for displaced Tamils. The Centre is committed to ensuring that Tamils in Sri Lanka live with peace, equality and dignity.
He said the Congress and the DMK tried to create controversy on procurement of Rafale jets but the CAG had given a clean chit.
Two States had been chosen by the Centre for the Defence Corridor project — Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The Centre had increased the State’s share in Central resources to 42%, and Tamil Nadu had received ₹5.42 lakh crore. However, during the last UPA regime, Tamil Nadu got just ₹94,540 crore.
The construction of the Salem-Chennai expressway would begin in 2021-22, he said.
IMF projections
Despite the pandemic, the IMF has said that India’s GDP growth will be in double digits the next fiscal and it will be more than 11.5%. “We are going to write the next growth history and foreign investment is also increasing day by day,” he said. He said a jallikattu event was happening in the stock market now.
He said Tamil was the Amma of all languages and decisions taken by the NDA government had been inspired by the ideals in Tirukkural. The government is making efforts to ensure that Tirukkural’s knowledge is made available across India and the globe.
Yuva Morcha president Tejasvi Surya said the DMK did not represent Tamil Nadu’s youth or its spirit in any way. The party was “anti-Tamil”, and family politics must be rejected, he said.
Dubbing the DMK “anti-Hindu”, he said if that Tamil has to survive, Hindutva had to win.