April 6 poll is a battle to save TN, says Stalin
The BJP has been trying to capture Tamil Nadu by foisting Hindi and providing employment to north Indians, but the DMK would never allow the Saffron party to make inroads into the State, said DMK president MK Stalin here on Thursday. He was campaigning for the eight party candidates in the district.
Stalin during a campaign in Tiruvannamalai on Thursday
Stalin during a campaign in Tiruvannamalai on Thursday
“We want priority for Tamil youth in job opportunities, as is being followed in states ruled by the BJP,” he said. The national party was trying to foist communal education (kula kalvi) through its New Education Policy, but the AIADMK government too no steps to prevent it, he added. According to Stalin, the BJP government’s move to conduct even State-level examinations as common central exams was a ploy to plant to bring in north Indians here.
The DMK wanted a regime change so as to safeguard the State for the youth, Stalin said. “The polls should not be viewed as an election alone, but as a battle to save the State,” he said.
Referring to O Panneerselvam’s son and Lok Sabha member P Raveendranath Kumar, he said the only AIADMK candidate who won had Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s picture on his letter pad. Similarly, any AIADMK candidate who wins the election would function as BJP’s MLA, he said. “Earlier, Delhi listened to what Tamil Nadu said. But it is the opposite now,” Stalin opined. Many were campaigning that DMK was anti-Hindu but it believed in providing equal respect to all beliefs, he said, listing out what the party was planning to do for the HR&CE Department when it comes to power. “Tamilians knew that religion and politics are separate,” he said. Its government would provide Rs 25,000 to 1 lakh persons to undertake spiritual tourism, while an international centre in the name of Vallalar would be set up at Vadalur. Other proposals include the creation of a board for temple priests, monthly aid of Rs 2,000 to board members, pension of Rs 4,000 to temple priests, and converting power lines to underground cables to enable the Tiruvannamalai Arunachaleswarar temple car to proceed on its perambulations around the temple.
