BJP senior leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday accused Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin of being duplicitous regarding the arrest of Minister V. Senthilbalaji by the Enforcement Directorate and criticised him for putting the spirit of democracy in danger by arresting State BJP functionary SG Suryah.
Addressing a public meeting organised at Tambaram as part of the BJP’s ongoing campaign to publicise the achievements of the Union government, he said Mr. Stalin was now questioning the work of Central investigative agencies and trying to bring disrepute to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, when Mr. Senthilbalaji was with the AIADMK, Mr. Stalin had accused him of corruption and demanded his swift arrest, Mr. Singh said, adding the BJP would not accept such “duplicity of character”.
Referring to Mr. Suryah, who has been arrested by the Tamil Nadu police on the charge of spreading fake news on the social media, Mr. Singh said his arrest because of a tweet was anti-constitutional and anti-democratic. He quipped that Mr. Stalin was, perhaps, taking seriously the name he shared with the Russian dictator Stalin.
Claiming the entire country was aware of the corruption of the Tamil Nadu government, he appealed to people to vote the BJP to power in Tamil Nadu just once to see how the party would eradicate corruption.
AIADMK alliance
Highlighting the BJP’s alliance with the AIADMK, Mr. Singh said his party valued its allies because the National Democratic Alliance was not a “compulsion”, but a commitment.
He said the BJP would never forget the support that late AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa offered to the first BJP government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Terming Jayalalithaa a leader who worked for the uplift of the poor and providing them a dignified life, he said Mr. Modi also worked for the same goal.
On Sengol
According to him, Mr. Modi had acknowledged the contribution of Tamil Nadu to India’s cultural nationalism and made the word, ‘Sengol’, known to everyone in the country by installing it in the new Parliament building. He appealed to the people who attended the meeting to cheer for Mr. Modi as an expression of gratitude.
Lauding the work of K. Annamalai as the party’s State president, he believed the former not only had the capability to lead Tamil Nadu but also emerge as a leader for the country.
He said the BJP and Mr. Modi had high respect for Tamil Nadu and its people. He listed the projects brought to Tamil Nadu by the party, including the establishment of a defence corridor. Of the nearly ₹15,000-crore-worth investments expected in the corridor, investments of around ₹4,000 crore had already happened, he said.
