Stalin: Ram temple alone won’t get BJP votes in Tamil Nadu
Taking a swipe at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday said issues like Ram temple alone won’t get the saffron party votes in his state.
Tamil Nadu has not preferrred BJP in the past elections and the same would be the case in this year’s Lok Sabha polls as well, he said in his address at the 2nd state level conference of the DMK Youth Wing, headed by his son and state minister Udhayanidhi, here.
Referring to the recent cyclone Michaung impact in Chennai and the heavy rainfall that occurred in southern districts of the State, he said TN has sought a relief of ₹ 37,000 crore from the Centre, but so far no funds have been received.
“What they (BJP) think is that the people of Tamil Nadu will cast their votes (for them) over mere recital of Tirukkural, celebrating Pongal and constructing (Shri Ram) temple in Ayodhya and mislead them.” “They have not understood us. This is the land of Periyar, land of Anna, land of Kalaignar (Karunanidhi),” he said, alluding to the Dravidian stalwarts.
His comments came on a day when PM Modi wound up his 3-day spiritual sojourn of the state, during which he visited temples and locations in the state with a Ramayana connect, including Arichalmunai in Rameswaram, which is said to be the place from where the Ram Setu was built.
The consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is scheduled on Monday.
Narendra Modi has been Prime Minister twice “but on both occasions the people of Tamil Nadu did not vote for him to become PM,” Mr Mr Stalin said in an apparent reference to the BJP’s poor show in the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019.
He said Tamil Nadu will stick to the trend this time also and that the rest of the country will follow suit.
Exuding confidence of the opposition India bloc winning the elections, he said it will not be a single-party rule. “Neither will it be an authoritarian regime; it will be one that respects states, one that would do good to Tamil Nadu and the people of the state,” he said.