BJP Effect: Stalin Asks Party Leaders To Be Cautious And Avoid Controversies

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in an open letter to the party urged DMK leaders to work for the people and not fight with their political rivals who are ‘venomous political forces’ and ‘mud dipped enemies.’

Observers say that he must have sent out the appeal as multiple leaders of the DMK have landed in the soup of late. The most recent were the incidents involving three leaders-Dharmapuri MP S Senthil Kumar, Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy, and Minister KKSSR Ramachandran.

While Ramachandran and Senthil Kumar were seen behaving disrespectfully with officials, Ponmudy was in the news for using unparliamentary language.

Also, the BJP has been fiercely taking on the DMK especially against A Raja’s controversial speeches about Hinduism and a separate Tamil country.

A Raja had said, "You are a Shudra till you remain a Hindu. You are the son of a prostitute till you remain as Shudra. You are a Panchaman (Dalit) till you remain a Hindu. You are an untouchable till you remain a Hindu."

He also said that their ideological leader, Periyar advocated a Tamil Nadu separate from India.

A massive protest against these remarks and also the targeted attacks on BJP, RSS leaders by workers of the now banned PFI was held in Coimbatore on 26 September, under the leadership of State President Annamalai.

The Tamil Nadu BJP says that the hands of Tamil Nadu police are tied and when its leaders such as their Coimbatore district president Balaji Uthamaramasamy, condemned such remarks, they were arrested and even booked under the SC/ST act.

A bandh called by the BJP and other Hindu organisations like Hindu Munnani against A Raja’s remarks was quite successful and shops were shut in Nilgiris, Mettupalayam and even the Union Territory of Puducherry. 

Also Read: Tamil Nadu: Annamalai Ups The Ante Against DMK Government After A Raja's Controversial Speech