Jai Hind slogan unites arch rivals Congress, BJP in TN

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) on Sunday posted a video of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi chanting Jai Hind at a rally in the distant past. The official Twitter handle of the state Congress unit has posted the seven-second video with the hashtag #proudtosayjaihind. The slogan became a political talking point in the state of late after KMDK MLA Eswaran, speaking on the motion to thank the Governor for his address in the state Assembly, took pride in the Governor’s address not concluding with the Jai Hind slogan in the DMK regime. Eswaran dubbed it as a welcome change compared to the previous AIADMK regime. 

His innocuous statement did not go unnoticed, thanks to BJP leaders Vanathi Srinivasan and former IPS officer K Annamalai, who criticised the ruling DMK for not including the slogan in the Governor’s address. Understandably, the right wing constituency targeted Chief Minister MK Stalin led DMK for the slogan or the lack of mention of it. Surprisingly, DMK’s ally in the state Congress in Twitter posted in agreement with the BJP. 

The move has enthused Congressmen who thanked the state party leadership for considering national welfare more important than alliance. A Congress spokesman, who is a regular on TV talk shows, did not hold back when he shared the video of the MLA and said, “A symbol of shame of Kongu region.” Asking his party workers to trend the post, the TNCC spokesman also tagged the official twitter handles of DMK, its president Stalin and the state CPM unit in the tweet.