In a fiery speech to mark his 70th birthday celebrations, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin gave a clarion call for Opposition unity in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.
On a grand stage that he shared with the likes of AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah, and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, Stalin categorically rejected the idea of a “third front”.
“The 2024 Lok Sabha elections are not about who will come to power. It is about who should not come to power,” Stalin said to a cheering crowd on Wednesday, 1 March
“The BJP must be defeated politically. This must be the single goal for all Opposition parties,” said the DMK president.
Stalin turns 70 this year
“If national politics is decided based on state-based political differences, the loss is on us,” he said, referring to the state-specific political realities that hindered bringing like-minded parties together to take on the BJP.
Stalin’s rejection of a “third front” and call for Opposition unity comes at a time his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao has been pushing for a non-BJP, non-Congress “third front” ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. KCR has even changed the name of his party to Bharat Rashtra Samithi in this pursuit.
Congress at the fore, says Stalin
Throwing his party’s weight behind the Congress to ensure an Opposition win in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Stalin said that arguments by some favouring a front without the grand old party should be rejected.
Stalin asserted that a post-poll alliance and third front are not workable proposals. Rather than who should form the government, the 2024 LS election should be about who must not capture power, he said.
“Political parties should rise above differences and stand together as a unified force to defeat the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. Talks of third front are pointless. I request all parties opposed to the BJP to understand this,” he said.
நாட்டின் பன்முகத்தன்மையையும் மக்களின் ஒற்றுமையையும் காக்க பா.ஜ.க.வுக்கு எதிரான கட்சிகள் ஒன்றிணைய வேண்டியதன் அவசியத்தை எடுத்துச் சொல்லி, அதனை இந்தியத் துணைக்கண்டம் முழுதும் எடுத்துச் சென்று, நாடாளுமன்றத் தேர்தல் வெற்றிக்கு அடித்தளமிட வலியுறுத்தினேன். (1/2) pic.twitter.com/RbM30iKR4X
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) March 1, 2023
He urged his party cadres to work for the victory of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) in all the 40 seats (39 in TN and one in Puducherry) in the 2024 polls. “That will be your birthday gift to me,” Stalin told his supporters.
Also Read: Udhayanidhi Stalin requests Modi to hold Khelo India events in TN
‘Stalin for prime minister’ calls at 70th birthday event
Agreeing with Stalin, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said that a decision could be made on the best man to lead and unite the nation at the appropriate time after a win by a united Opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
However, he added that if this happens, there are chances for Stalin to become the prime minister. He said that Stalin and the DMK have done very well.
“Tamil Nadu’s ruling party has done well on nurturing Opposition and national unity,” Abdullah said, and added that when the nation’s diversity is protected, then unity is guarded.
#LIVE: 70-ஆவது பிறந்தநாள் விழாப் பொதுக்கூட்டம் https://t.co/XrjuQvEfz8
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) March 1, 2023
Abdullah said that Congress should forget about the prime minister’s choice and focus only on winning the Lok Sabha polls.
Addressing the public meeting to mark the DMK chief’s 70th birthday, he said, “Stalin, it is time to move on. Come to the national scene. Come to the nation and build the nation as you have built this state. Nation needs people who can work together.”
‘The people make the country’
Abdullah said that it is not the prime minister that matters, it is the nation that matters, and if the country is saved, then its 140 crore people are protected, the senior political leader said.
All the Opposition leaders need to work together and that is the need of the hour, he said. “Wake up, unite,” he added, and urged them to work for the nation where all people could live in peace with honour and dignity.
“It is people of India that make the nation. It is not the Army, the Air Force or the Navy. It is the people of India who make India strong. So, let us stick together,” he said.
Also Read: Gold rings, saplings, blood donation: Big plans for Stalin’s birthday
More calls for Opposition unity
Echoing Stalin and Abdullah’s call for Opposition unity was Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
He said that the primary objective of the Opposition should be to put up a united fight against “divisive forces” and said the issue of a prime ministerial candidate of such a bloc was “not the question”.
Addressed the birthday function of Tamil Nadu CM, Thiru M.K. Stalin | 📍Chennai, Tamil Nadu https://t.co/AWXnYOCGmZ
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) March 1, 2023
Kharge’s comments come days after the Congress had, in its 85th Plenary in Nava Raipur, asserted it was the only party that could provide capable and decisive leadership to the country, but was ready to make sacrifices to defeat the BJP-led NDA and would go all out to identify, mobilise, and align like-minded secular forces to achieve its goal.
“All like-minded Opposition parties must come together in this fight against divisive forces. I never said who will lead, who will become the prime minister. We (Congress) are not saying who will lead or not going to lead. It is not the question. We want to fight together unitedly, that is our desire. That is why we have sacrificed many times in the name of secularism, in the name of liberty, in the name of freedom of expression,” he said.
His remarks came after Abdullah, in his speech, indicated to Kharge that the first priority for the Opposition should be to win the 2024 polls and that they should “forget who is going to become the prime minister”.
Also Read: Karnataka: Kharge calls for SC-ST unity to elect ‘sons of the soil’
‘BJP only interested in polarising society’
In his address at the DMK event, Kharge lashed out at the BJP, alleging that it was attempting to polarise for electoral gains. “Today, the country is going through difficult times, with more than 23 crore people being ‘pushed’ below poverty line due to the failure of the central BJP government,” he said.
23 Cr people have been pushed below the poverty line in the country.
But the BJP is only interested in polarising the society to win elections. We have seen such attempts in Tamil Nadu also.
Tamil Nadu will not yield one inch to the BJP.
Congress & DMK shall ensure that. pic.twitter.com/XGsmWhij0J
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) March 1, 2023
He said that the common man was hit by inflation and unemployment, “but the BJP is only interested in polarising society to win elections”.
“We have seen such attempts in Tamil Nadu also, but Tamil Nadu will not yield even one inch to BJP. I know their philosophy, their commitment,” he added, in praise of the state’s ruling party.
He alleged that Constitutional authorities were being reduced to talking like BJP spokespersons. “It is not about one Governor in one state, it is happening in every state where the Opposition is in power,” he said, in an apparent reference to the Governor-government spat in non-BJP ruled states.
He alleged that the BJP wanted “to take over the judiciary, the Election Commission, and every institution in the country”. The ultimate aim of the BJP was to “change the Constitution”, he said and added that many party leaders and MPs have said this “openly”.
Heaping praise on the DMK
In his address, Kharge said that “the DMK and Congress have shared a vision and commitment for all sections of society”.
“Pandit Nehru ji believed in promoting scientific temper and rational thinking. The same thinking is that of (EVR) Periyar, (CN) Annadurai and (M) Karunanidhi (all late Dravidian stalwarts), and Stalin will continue the same thinking,” he said.
The Constitution given by Dr BR Ambedkar provided the foundation for building the country based on equality, social justice, liberty, and fraternity, he said and added that these were also the principles of the DMK.
He recalled that the Congress-DMK alliance in Tamil Nadu led to Lok Sabha victories in 2004 and 2009, while ensuring Assembly wins in 2006 and 2021.
Also Read: I set my own targets, says MK Stalin; launches seven new projects
Akhilesh, Tejashwi praise Stalin, DMK at birthday event
Also present at the DMK event was Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav who praised the DMK president and expressed confidence that he would rise to national prominence.
Yadav, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, said that Stalin has done “exemplary work” for Tamil Nadu’s development as its chief minister.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, who also spoke at the DMK event, said, “We know strong and effective leadership can come only from conviction from values of social justice. This is also an occasion to declare that it is a meeting ground of parties with a social justice background.”
"வட இந்தியாவில் இருக்கும் கட்சிகள் உங்களிடம் சமூகநீதியைக் கற்றுக்கொள்ள வேண்டும். வேலையின்மை, பண மதிப்பு வீழ்ச்சி என நம் நாடு பல பிரச்சனைகளில் உள்ளது. அறிவிக்கப்படாத அவசர நிலை நாட்டில் நிலவி வருகிறது"
– பீகார் மாநில துணை முதலமைச்சர் திரு @yadavtejashwi அவர்கள்.#HBDMKStalin70 pic.twitter.com/EuY0jMPtaB
— DMK (@arivalayam) March 1, 2023
He added, “The politics of hollow supremacy can be stopped only by the collective will of the people of India. Your focus on social justice and opposition to caste discrimination has resonated with the voters in your state. Parties in north India should learn and re-learn this continuously and prioritise issues related to social justice and the marginalised communities.”
He alleged that the “approach” of the Union government is “fundamentally anti-social justice”.
