- Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a large gathering at Maduranthakam near Chennai
- The Prime Minister said people have made up their mind to uproot the DMK and usher in change in Tamil Nadu
- He praised J Jayalalithaa, the late chief of AIADMK, for ensuring law and order and women's safety
Setting the stage for a high-stakes battle for the Tamil Nadu Assembly election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a large gathering at Maduranthakam near Chennai on Friday and declared that the countdown for the DMK's exit has begun.
Dubbing the DMK the 'CMC' government, the Prime Minister said it now stood for "Corruption, Mafia, and Crime" and asserted that the people of Tamil Nadu have decided to uproot the party and vote for change.
"Tamil Nadu now has a government that has nothing to do with democracy and accountability. The DMK government is only serving one family. If someone has to rise within the party, they only have three or four routes: dynasty, corruption, abusing women or abusing our culture," he said in a possible dig at party chief MK Stalin's son Udhayanidhi Stalin and his controversial remarks on Sanatan Dharma.
The NDA government at the Centre, the BJP leader said, has done unprecedented work for the development of Tamil Nadu. The Congress and DMK were also in power at the Centre before 2014, he pointed out, and said his government has allotted three times the money they did to Tamil Nadu.
"In the name of the welfare of SC/STs and other disadvantaged groups, their government indulged only in corruption," he alleged.
Mafia, Law And Order
Promising that the NDA government will work for the upliftment of farmers and fishermen, the PM said drug and liquor mafias have prospered under the Stalin government.
"There have been allegations of people in the DMK being hand-in-glove with the drug mafia. Every vote you cast in favour of the NDA will be a vote to free Tamil Nadu of the drug menace," he said.
Urging people to vote for a 'double-engine' government in Tamil Nadu - NDA in power at both the Centre and state - the PM said this will help attract investment.
Commending J Jayalalithaa, the late chief of BJP ally AIADMK, for ensuring law and order and women's safety in Tamil Nadu, the Prime Minister said the DMK has failed the women of the state in this regard. "Women now feel unsafe. The NDA will ensure women's safety," he assured.
Referring to the Deepam row - the dispute over lighting a sacred lamp during the Karthigai Deepam festival - the PM also alleged that while BJP leaders supported devotees, the DMK decided to give more importance to votebank politics.
DMK's Response
In a scathing retort, DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said the states that are actually doing well are the ones that do not have the BJP or NDA's 'double engine' government.
"Despite all the barriers imposed by the BJP government at the Centre, Tamil Nadu has achieved the kind of development that history speaks of... Compared to the 'double engine' states you (PM Modi) mention - Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar - states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka, and West Bengal are the ones soaring high in development," he wrote in Tamil on X.
