‘INDIA win must or country will turn into Manipur, Haryana’

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday accused the BJP government at the Centre of being vengeful against the states opposed to it and keen on destroying the sovereignty of state governments, reports India Today.

The Centre was trying to destroy the entire country through relentless activities, he said in his maiden address on the podcast series - ‘Speaking for India.’

While the controversy over Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks on “Sanatana Dharma” snowballed into a big political squabble, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) President M K Stalin said that the INDIA alliance must win to prevent the whole of India from becoming Manipur and Haryana, referring to the violence in the north-eastern state since May this year and the recent communal clashes in Haryana.

Alleging that the BJP riles up communalism to cover up issues like airports and seaports being handed over to friendly corporations and Air India being sold to a private player, the DMK chief extolled the people to create a diverse and multicultural India.

Referring to the 2002 Gujarat riots, the Tamil Nadu chief minister said that “hatred sown in Gujarat 2002” has led to ethnic violence in Manipur and communal clashes in Haryana in 2023. The INDIA bloc was formed to restore an India on the facets that it thrives on and the INDIA alliance is going to save the country, he said.

“If we want to prevent the whole of India from becoming Manipur and Haryana, which, unfortunately, fell victim to BJP’s communal politics, and hate-inciting policies, the INDIA alliance must win,” Stalin said, referring to the initial rounds of consultations for the streamlining of the alliance held in Patna, Bangalore and Mumbai. “Let’s carve out a multi-cultural and diverse India! Let’s save India. For that, let’s first speak for India!,” he said and added that “this will not only be the voice of M K Stalin but voice of INDIA. Ensure my voice becomes the voice of everyone in India. Let INDIA be the real winner!” Outlining purpose of podcast series, Stalin said he chose to speak as someone who is one among people and wants to speak for India. AGENCIES

“We are in a time where each and everyone of us has to speak up for India,” Stalin, whose DMK is the third largest party in Parliament, said.

He claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party was trying to damage the basic structure of India, and destroy the sense of unity that Indians have cherished and protected for so long.

The BJP, which came to power in 2014, failed to fulfill its pre-election promises, especially with regards to the people welfare schemes such as recovering black money deposited in foreign countries, depositing Rs 15 lakh to every Indian, guaranteed employment to 2 crore people every single year, doubling farmers’ income, ensuring house for every Indian and making the country a USD 5 trillion economy.

He also said PM Modi lied about the “Gujarat Model” and would leave the country’s highest office with “no significant model to call his own”.

“It has become a rudderless model and there are no tall claims about the once-famous Gujarat model either, especially after we listed the achievements of the Dravidian Model in Tamil Nadu with statistical proof,” Stalin said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party slammed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin for attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the first episode of his podcast series. PM Modi never promised Rs 15 lakh would be deposited in everyone’s account, the party said, adding that claims in the podcast are “lies”.

The podcast was released as the row over his son and state minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks intensified. Udhayanidhi on September 2 had equated “Sanatana” Dharma with “dengue and malaria”. At a writers’ conference in Chennai, Udhayanidhi Stalin had said the idea of “Sanatana Dharma is against the idea of social justice and must be eradicated”.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah went on the attack on BJP’s behalf, slamming Udhayanidhi Stalin for his comments. Shah claimed that the INDIA front “hates Hinduism” and that Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks were part of the INDIA bloc’s “vote bank politics” and “appeasement” tactic.