Shah slams Oppn alliance INDIA, says nothing will happen by change in name

CHENNAI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday slammed the Congress and its allies, including the DMK, saying nothing would happen by changing the name of their alliance to INDIA.

The senior BJP leader was addressing a rally here, ahead of kick-starting Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai's state-wide 'En Mann, En Makkal (My Land, My People)' padayatra.

''When Congress and its allies, including the DMK, go to the people seeking votes, the public would remember the corruption, including the 2G scam and CommonWealth Games scam during the UPA regime, '' Shah said.

''Congress-DMK and allies opposed the removal of Art 370; is Kashmir ours or not,'' he asked. Taking forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Tamil pitch, he said Modi honoured Tamil culture by installing the 'sengol' in the new parliament building.

Shah hit out at the DMK regime, calling it the most corrupt in the nation and said the BJP yatra is an attempt to usher in politics of development and good governance in Tamil Nadu.

He named Congress and its allies one by one, including the DMK, Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), and accused them all of trying to empower their families and not the nation.

''Sonia Gandhi wants to make her son Rahul the Prime Minister, M K Stalin wants to make his son Udhayanidhi the Chief Minister.'' The BJP top leader also criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray as leaders who desired to see their heirs in leadership positions. ''However, Modi is the only leader who is working for the nation's development,'' he said.

Shah also raised the issue of an accused person who is in jail continuing as a minister in Tamil Nadu. ''Stalin should be ashamed of retaining V Senthil Balaji, arrested in an Enforcement Directorate case and in jail, in the cabinet,'' the union minister said.

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''Can a person in jail continue as a minister,'' he asked. ''Should Senthil Balaji not have resigned? Even if Senthil Balaji resigns, Stalin will not accept it because he is afraid that all secrets will be disclosed.'' The union minister said a single tweet of BJP state chief Annamalai has rattled the DMK regime, a reference to the state BJP leader's allegations of corruption vis-a-vis the 'DMK Files'.

''Imagine what will happen when Annamalai takes the yatra across the state,'' he said. Shah exhorted the people to elect nominees from BJP and its allies as MPs to ensure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins a third successive term.

The top BJP leader later flagged off the 'En Mann, En Makkal' (My soil, my people) padayatra by state BJP president K Annamalai. It is a ''march spreading the spirit of unity and progress fostered by Modi Ji,'' he said in a tweet.

The union minister held Annamalai's hand and raised it amid enthusiastic chants by party members. The stage put up for the launch of the padayatra was modelled on the newly inaugurated Parliament building.

The yatra, which will go on for six months, marks the start of BJP's poll campaign ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election The yatra will cover all 234 assembly constituencies in the state.

In his address, Annamalai likened the yatra to a 'yagna' to reach out to the people about the welfare schemes of the BJP-led Centre under PM Modi's leadership and the ''never-seen-before'' financial allocations by the Centre to Tamil Nadu.

He spoke about the celebrated visit of Swami Vivekananda to Rameswaram in the late 19th century and the spiritual glory of the land.

Annamalai praised the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and asserted that this is the rule of ''common men'' and Modi is an ''ordinary man who made all Indians proud through his work''.

''This is the yatra of party workers with the blessings of NDA leaders,'' he said and named the leaders of the alliance including AIADMK leader R B Udhayakumar who was present there. ''Modi is a Tamilian at heart, and he has made Tamilians proud world over and taken Tamil culture and Tamil classic Tirukkural across the world, which echoed in the United Nations as well,'' Annamalai said.

He ridiculed the opposition alliance INDIA, and mocked Rahul Gandhi saying he would be Prime Minister only during the weekend and other leaders would alternate as PM during weekdays. AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu, did not take part in the padayatra launch event though he was invited by the BJP.

Former Minister and senior AIADMK leader R B Udhayakumar represented his party and described Amit Shah as the ''Iron Man of India'' and hailed Annamalai as ''Karumbu Manithar'' (sweet man like sugarcane). ''I have come here to convey the greetings of the Iron Man of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K Palaniswami,'' Udhayakumar said.

The AIADMK leader said both PM Modi and Amit Shah had great respect for late party matriarch J Jayalalithaa. Democracy and development are the keywords for the NDA, he said. As many as 11 new medical colleges were sanctioned by the BJP regime at the Centre for Tamil Nadu during the AIADMK regime, he recalled.

Annamalai's predecessor in the party L Murugan, now union minister, during his stint as BJP state chief had undertaken the 'Vel Yatra,' (Vel refers to the spear, the weapon of Lord Muruga) ahead of the 2021 Assembly election. Four BJP leaders won in the Assembly polls and entered the Assembly after a gap of about 20 years at the time.

While the BJP's Vel yatra commenced in 2020 from Tiruttani, a well known northern Tamil Nadu temple town, the present yatra is from Rameswaram and its traditional connect to Kashi has been praised (Kashi Tamil Sangamam) by Prime Minister Modi.

Annamalai's yatra follows the release of two 'files' on the ruling DMK, alleging corruption, which was dismissed as false and defamatory by leaders of the Dravidian party.

Leaders of the BJP's other alliance parties including G K Vasan (Tamil Maanila Congress-Moopanar) and K Krishnasamy (Puthiya Tamilagam) took part in the rally. BJP's P Sudhakar Reddy and CT Ravi were also present.