Celebrating Nehru’s anniversary alone biased, TN BJP slams DMK govt
"The ruling DMK government must recognize the collective contributions of all national leaders. India's struggle for independence and progress involved numerous leaders beyond Nehru and his family."
ANS Prasad
CHENNAI: The BJP State unit on Sunday came down heavily against the ruling DMK government for conducting a speech competition on the occasion of former PM Jawaharlal Nehru's birth anniversary.
In a statement, Tamil Nadu BJP spokesperson ANS Prasad said India's identity extends beyond Jawaharlal Nehru.
"The ruling DMK government must recognize the collective contributions of all national leaders. India's struggle for independence and progress involved numerous leaders beyond Nehru and his family," Prasad said in a statement, Slamming the Tamil Development Department's initiative to conduct speech competition on the occasion of Nehru's birth anniversary.
The Tamil Development Department is scheduled to conduct the speech competitions on November 12 and 13, ahead of Nehru's 135th birth anniversary, which falls on November 14.
Condemning the Tamil department for conducting speech competitions on Nehru's birth anniversary, the TN BJP urged the department to hold similar competitions for other national leaders such as Bharathiyar, VO Chidambaram Pillai, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, BR Ambedkar, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and APJ Abdul Kalam.
"These speech and essay competitions should not be limited to leaders aligned with the ruling party's ideology. The DMK government should ensure that competitions are held on the birth and death anniversaries of all notable leaders, not just Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,” he added.
Moving away from a Nehru-centric view will foster a deeper understanding of India's diverse political heritage among students, claimed the saffron party leader.
He also took a dig at the Stalin government for naming the State government's schemes after late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi.