PM Modi govt can't continue with anti-TN stance: CM Stalin

CHENNAI: Appreciating party MPs for their exemplary democratic duty in Parliament during the Winter Session, DMK president MK Stalin came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP regime for scuttling the session.

Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday said that the people of Tamil Nadu would provide a fitting reply to the Union government if it did not mend its ways and continued to deny the State's rights.

Proudly trumpeting the performance of his party MPs in the Parliament, Stalin pointed to the various issues raised by his party members in the Parliament. He hailed the warcry raised by party members on the Metro rail fund allocation issue, putting the Madurai AIIMS project on the back burner, non-allocation of NDRF assistance and funds to local bodies in the State. He said that the MPs of DMK thundered like brave warriors in the Parliament, and the whole nation was amazed by it.

Stating that they (DMK MPs) voiced the welfare of the State and successfully drew the attention of the House on the State's rights, the CM said that as a leader of the century-old Dravidian movement, he was delighted by their performance. They are pioneers for other party MPs to follow suit, Stalin claimed.

DMK's members of the Parliament thundered as the voice of the whole of Tamil Nadu, the DMK president said. Apart from raising the State's rights issue, a strong opposition to the "One Nation, One Election" Bill, which will destroy democracy, was also raised, he said. I am confident that the message would have reached the ears of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government, he added.

Our MPs have categorically conveyed that the Union government cannot continue to give step-motherly treatment to Tamil Nadu and its people, Stalin said in a statement issued on Saturday.

"If the Union government does not mend its ways henceforth and continues to deny TN's rights, it is certain that the people of the State will give a befitting reply, he added.

Citing Prime Minister Modi's silence on the Adani row and Manipur violence, the CM said that he remained a mere spectator when BJP MPs undermined democracy in the Parliament. It was evident that the BJP MPs, instead of allowing the functioning of the House, were keen on paralysing it and ensuring that no debate took place on the failures of the Union government, the DMK president alleged. "The DMK is worried that healthy discussions have become a rarity in the Parliament under the BJP regime," he remarked.

Citing the stats released by the Union Parliamentary Affairs Ministry that the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha worked constructively only for 54.5% and 40%, respectively, Stalin wondered if there could be something more worrying than this.