‘Control your leaders’: PM Narendra Modi warns DMK and Congress amid storm over A Raja remark

Hitting out at the main opposition player DMK and its ally, the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday advised the two parties to ‘control’ their leaders. Referring to recent remarks by top DMK leaders, including former Union telecom minister A Raja, at a rally in support of state BJP president and the party’s Dharapuram nominee L Murugan, the PM said if they come to power, “they will insult many other women of Tamil Nadu”.

“While the NDA has a development agenda, the Congress and DMK have their dynastic agendas,” Modi said, adding that their speeches have nothing positive but are only meant to “demean others and spread lies”.

“Congress and DMK have launched their outdated 2G missile… It has one clear target, women of Tamil Nadu,” Modi said, referring to Raja, who apologised to Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday after derogatory remarks about his mother kicked up a storm in the state.

Anti-women Congress and DMK have launched their outdated 2-G missile. This alliance can never respect women. pic.twitter.com/mgIWnWAtpa

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 30, 2021

“I want to tell the Congress and DMK… please control your party leaders. I want to tell them that the people of Tamil Nadu are noting everything. They will never tolerate the insult to the women of the state,” the PM said, adding that the “Congress and DMK have insulted the respected mother of Tamil Nadu CM…if they come to power, they will insult many other women of Tamil Nadu”.

Modi said, “Insulting women is a part of the culture of the Congress and DMK”, accusing both leaderships of doing nothing to stop their leaders from making such remarks. Recalling the date, “25th, March 1989,” when (former CM) Jayalalithaa was attacked by DMK MLAs in the state Assembly, Modi said “DMK and Congress will not guarantee women empowerment.”

Referring to the death of Sobha Majumdar, a BJP worker’s mother in West Bengal after she was allegedly attacked by workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress, Modi said crimes against women are going up and their local strongmen disrupt peace. “Did Congress show any empathy? Did the DMK condemn it? Did TMC show any regret? No, not at all… There is pin-drop silence in the Opposition,” he said.

Citing Saint Andal and ancient poet Avvaiyar, Modi said, NDA believes that the progress of the society is not complete without the empowerment of women. “That is why all our schemes are aimed at strengthening Naari Shakti,” he said, rattling off a number of major government projects to this end, including the Swachh Bharat Mission. The PM praised the “enterprising spirit of people in Kongu region” (which is in western Tamil Nadu where the rally was held). “My government and myself are personally committed to do everything possible to grow businesses and enterprises here,” he said.

Modi said Rs 14,0000 crores was sanctioned for 3.6 Lakh MSMEs in the state and 1.5 lakh people benefited from it. He said 8.5 lakh MSME units have drawn the benefits of the credit guarantee scheme, adding that the “corrupt eyes of Congress and DMK will never let businesses grow… like they had done in the past. Their local strongmen will be busy in money-collection drives. Industries will never grow because of frequent power cuts.”