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Chennai: Amid strain in ties with ally AIADMK, Rajnath praises Jayalalithaa
The AIADMK is sparring with Annamalai calling for the party’s national leadership to rein him in, after he had linked Tamil Nadu’s politics of corruption with Jayalalithaa in an interview.
Chennai: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh heaped praises on AIADMK supremo late J Jayalalithaa to diffuse the tension between the allies when he was in Chennai on Tuesday to speak of the achievements of the nine years of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government. Singh said that BJP leaders including Modi and Atal Bihari Vajpaee respected Jayalalithaa and addressed her as ‘Amma’ meaning mother, the way the Dravidian party cadre address her.
The AIADMK is sparring with BJP’s state president K Annamalai calling for the party’s national leadership to rein him in after he had linked Tamil Nadu’s politics of corruption with Jayalalithaa in an interview.
The development comes a week after state BJP chief K Annamalai stirred up a row by calling Tamil Nadu one of the most corrupt states in the country where “former chief ministers” have been convicted. While Annamalai did not name a leader or a party, the AIADMK took exception to his remarks. “Annamalai is forcing us to reconsider the alliance even though the central leadership (of BJP) has a good relationship with us,” party spokesperson D Jayakumar said on June 13.
The party also passed a resolution against Annamalai over the remarks, noting that Annamalai was “intentionally” defaming Jayalalithaa.
“This alliance has been intact for several years. The NDA alliance is not our compulsion but a commitment,” said Singh. “We do not forget. When Atalji’s government was formed for the first time, it was Tamil Nadu’s daughter, ‘Puratchi Thalavi’, Jaya Amma who supported him. Jaya Amma has made a big contribution in the politics of Tamil Nadu and India,” Singh said listing her work. “We will always have a great deal of respect for her in our hearts. Our Prime Minister Modiji is also very inspired by Jaya Amma. On his lines, Modiji is working for the empowerment of the weaker sections of the society. Like Atalji, Modiji also has a personal relationship with Tamil Nadu. It is visible in his work.”
The defence minister also chided chief minister and DMK president M K Stalin not to indulge in vengeful politics like his name sake Joseph Stalin, the autocrat of erstwhile Soviet Union condemning the arrest of a state BJP leader for a tweet.
“Mr Stalin named himself after the Russian dictator, and he took this very seriously and acting like the dictator himself. He is killing the very spirit of democracy,” the Defence Minister said speaking in Chennai. The Madurai cyber crime branch had arrested BJP state secretary S G Suryah on June 16 for a tweet against Madurai MP S Venkatesan and a district court on Tuesday granted him bail.
Singh said that the arrested showed a disregard for democracy and dissent. “This is completely Anti-Constitutional and Anti-Democratic,” Singh said, adding that Stalin was acting like the Soviet dictator. Singh also said that Stalin showed double standards in the arrest of sitting minister V Senthil Balaji by the Enforcement Directorate on June 13 in a case dating back to 2014 when he was with the AIADMK. ”Stalin is calling the arrest of DMK minister Senthil Balaji a political vendetta. But when Balaji was in AIADMK, Stalin used to call him corrupt and repeatedly called for his immediate arrest,” Singh said. “This duplicity of character is unacceptable.”
