Tamil Nadu has been witnessing a war of words between the DMK and the BJP, besides the ruling dispensation's issues with Governor RN Ravi.
MK Stalin with Narendra Modi. (Twitter)
The bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin was on full display on Saturday, 8 April, during the former’s visit to Chennai, as it came against the backdrop of persistent political face-offs between the ruling DMK in the state and the BJP.
Incidentally, BJP state chief K Annamalai, who has already levelled allegations of irregularities against the ruling dispensation, has said he will soon release what he described as a “corruption list” involving DMK ministers.
Modi was received by Stalin on Saturday afternoon at the Chennai airport. The prime minister was in the city to attend various official engagements.
At a warm reception at the Chennai airport, the chief minister, also the DMK president, briefly held the prime minister’s hand and patted it while walking through the displays exhibited at the new Chennai airport terminal.
The display of camaraderie comes at a time when the DMK is politically opposed to the BJP at the Centre and Stalin is batting for a Congress-led Opposition unity against the NDA government.
The state leaders of the two parties have been sparring over a number of issues.
The warm gesture between the two top leaders also came just hours after the Prime Minister had launched a political tirade on the leadership of Telangana, where he visited earlier in the day. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao did not attend Modi’s event in Hyderabad.
While speaking at Hyderabad after inaugurating railway projects and developmental schemes, Modi attacked the Telangana state leadership for “obstructing” the developmental projects being implemented there by the Centre.
Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan was seated on stage as the Prime Minister launched his attack on the state leadership.
மாண்புமிகு முதலமைச்சர் @mkstalin அவர்கள் முன்னிலையில் மாண்புமிகு பிரதமர் @narendramodi அவர்கள் சென்னை விமான நிலையத்தின் புதிய ஒருங்கிணைந்த முனையக் கட்டடத்தை திறந்து வைத்து, பார்வையிட்டார். pic.twitter.com/fuGwPhUcSC
— CMOTamilNadu (@CMOTamilnadu) April 8, 2023
Telangana chief minister stayed away from the events attended by the Prime Minister including the flagging off of the Secunderabad-Tirupati Vande Bharat Express.
Addressing a well-attended public meeting at Parade Ground in Secunderabad on Saturday, 8 April, Modi said the BJP is determined to free Telangana from the clutches of dishonest and corrupt dynastic rule.
Visibly annoyed by KCR’s absence at the public meeting, the Prime Minister was emphatic that family rule in the state should be uprooted.
He said family rule was an embodiment of selfishness, creating a conducive environment for corruption to breed. Under family rule, the priority would be on making money rather than investing in development projects that benefit the people.
“The family rule in Telangana is hampering the BJP’s efforts in developing the state. Whenever we want to invest in sunrise sectors, the family rule looks at the possibilities of profiting from them,” he alleged.
Modi appealed to the people to realise that they have lost heavily because of the greed of the family rule. “It is time that all of you join hands to pack off the present dispensation,” he said.
It was after the events in Telangana that the Prime Minister reached Chennai airport around 2.45 pm.
Tamil Nadu has been witnessing war of words between the DMK and the Opposition BJP apart from the ruling dispensation’s issues with the state governor, RN Ravi.
Ravi had very recently kicked up a political storm by saying the 2018 anti-Sterlite protests by people were completely “foreign-funded”.
While responding to a question on Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) violations during an event at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Thursday, the governor had said “Sterlite protest, it was purely foreign-funded, and the entire activities which led to the protest and the unfortunate police firing that cost innocent lives.”
DMK had reacted sharply to these comments saying it was an insult to the people who not only participated in huge numbers against the functioning of the Sterlite plant over pollution concerns but even gave their lives in their struggle.
At least 13 people were killed when police opened fire at anti-Sterlite protestors in Thoothukudi. DMK had threatened statewide protests against the governor’s remarks.
Meanwhile, the ruling DMK’s ally Congress party had threatened to hold a black flag demonstration at the airport to protest the arrival of Modi in the state amid disqualification of party leader Rahul Gandhi as Lok Sabha member, following his conviction in a court case over the Modi surname remark.
Only days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived, Stalin wrote to him demanding that the three coal blocks identified in the Cauvery Delta region of the state be removed from the national auction list.
The Centre was quick to remove the three blocks from the list, even Annamalai issued a statement thanking the Prime Minister for his swift response to the saffron party’s demands.
In such an atmosphere, of the three events the Prime Minister was to participate in Chennai, Stalin not only participated in the first one where the Prime Minister inaugurated Chennai Airport’s new integrated terminal but also expressed some warmth.
Stalin received Modi at the Chennai airport and later both together, with Governor Ravi in tow among others including Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, took a walk around the newly integrated terminal.
The Prime Minister then went on to his next stop which was to flag off Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express from the MGR Chennai Central Station, which was also attended by Stalin.
(With PTI inputs)
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