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Nation first for me, it’s my family, says PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an emotional pitch in Chennai on Monday evening declaring that the country is his family for which he left his home at the age of 16
Chennai:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an emotional pitch in Chennai on Monday evening declaring that the country is his family for which he left his home at the age of 16. While tearing into the opposition on dynastic politics and corruption, he said, “This is his response” to the INDIA bloc’s “new criticism” against him that he has no family.
For the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu and their Congress ally who are part of the INDIA bloc, their “family is first” but “for Modi, the nation is first”, the Prime Minister said during his second visit to the southern state in a week.
“INDIA bloc has found a new formula to attack me that I don’t have any family,” Modi said. “When I was 16 years old, I left home. Why? For what? For this nation. You are my family. This country is my family. So I work day and night to make everyone’s life in my family better...Whoever is alone, abandoned, or alienated also belongs to Modi, and Modi belongs to them…That is why the whole nation is saying, I belong to the Modi family,” he added,
The PM raised two important developments from the Supreme Court on Monday which he said would be a blow for the opposition. In a landmark verdict a 7-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud ruled that lawmakers are not immune from prosecution in bribery cases which Modi said, will impact DMK and Congress.
The Supreme Court on Monday also reprimanded Tamil Nadu sports minister Udhyanidhi Stalin observing that as a minister and not a layman he should have known the consequences for his “eradicate Sanatana Dharma” remark. Without naming Udhayanidhi, who is also Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin’s son, Modi said, “a person belonging to dynastic politics” pulled by the top court. “These dynasties are arrogant and take government posts lightly. They hurt the beliefs of people,” Modi said.
Modi also furthered the attack by the Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the DMK following the involvement of Chennai-based film producer AK Jaffer Sadiq in an international drug smuggling ring who was expelled from the party last week. After the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) searched his Chennai home on February 29 and a DMK functionary attacked a local camera person covering it, AIADMK’s general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) led a protest on Monday while BJP state president K Annamalai has been criticising the Stalin-led government.
“With the ruling party’s blessings, drug smuggling and sale is uncontrolled in Tamil Nadu which worries me deeply about your children. If you strengthen the BJP, we will make sure of your safety and take action against those involved. This is Modi’s guarantee,” he said.
While the DMK has been attacking the BJP-led Union government for not providing funds for floods in Chennai and four southern districts last December, Modi turned the tables around and pointed fingers at the state government.
“DMK has no concern for Tamil Nadu…When the Union government is working for the development of Chennai and Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu is turning a blind eye to the dreams of Tamils.”
Meanwhile, DMK said, PM’s speech “reeks of desperation.”
“People of Tamil Nadu want due support from the Union government but for whatever reasons they are not releasing the relief funds for the floods. While AIIMS in other states have received more than ₹1,000 crore, Tamil Nadu has received only ₹18 crore and the project remains incomplete,” said A Saravanan, joint secretary of DMK’s media wing.
On PM describing the countrymen as his family, the DMK spokesperson said, “If 140 crore (1.4 billion) Indians indeed are Modi’s family, then why is he making his family suffer through inflation and joblessness?”
