Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin (File).
Chennai:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has thrown down a listing of dares to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, difficult him to ensure, amongst different issues, an inquiry into the electoral bonds row, restoration of areas “encroached by China”, and a caste census, if his Bharatiya Janata Occasion wins the election.
The Prime Minister has additionally been challenged to roll again notified amendments to the citizenship regulation and guarantee rapid distribution of catastrophe aid funds, a burning subject that final week noticed the state authorities take the centre to the Supreme Courtroom for a Rs 2,000 crore interim aid bundle.
Mr Stalin’s twist on the ‘Modi ki assure‘ tag – which the BJP makes use of ceaselessly in election campaigns, together with within the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha ballot – got here in a prolonged put up in Tamil on X, and because the PM attacked the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in his eighth go to to the state this 12 months.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister additionally took a swipe on the Prime Minister’s many journeys to the southern state – which has historically rejected the BJP’s model of politics – evaluating it to migratory birds.
https://twitter.com/mkstalin/status/1777891165574144167?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“Identical to birds come to a sanctuary through the season, Prime Minister hovers over Tamil Nadu throughout election season. Prime Minister, who has include assure card… will you give these ensures?”
Mr Stalin wasn’t the primary to intention a “migratory chicken” jibe on the Prime Minister. Final month Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress referred to him as such, one who surfaces simply earlier than an election.
“In any other case, your ‘guarantee’ is as soon as once more uncovered as a ‘Made in BJP’ washer that smears corruption tainted with saffron!” the DMK boss thundered in his social media put up.
The checklist of ensures demanded included reservation for Scheduled Castes and Tribes, and Different Backward Courses) and assurances of employment for 2 crore younger women and men yearly.
READ | Congress Manifesto Focuses On Jobs, Guarantees Caste Census
Reservations for marginalised teams – previous the Supreme Courtroom’s 50 per cent cap – had been additionally talked about by the Congress in its manifesto, which the PM known as an “imprint of Muslim League”.
Mr Stalin additionally demanded the Prime Minister vow to exempt Tamil Nadu from the NEET – the Nationwide Eligibility Entrance Take a look at, for admission to pan-India medical programs. Tamil Nadu is a fierce critic of the examination; in February final 12 months it moved the Supreme Courtroom claiming the single-window frequent check violates federal ideas because it takes away states’ decision-making capacity concerning schooling.
The Chief Minister additionally needed Mr Modi to cut back petrol, diesel, and LPG (cooking gasoline cylinder) costs, implement the Swaminathan Fee’s suggestions on minimal assist value, or MSP, for farmers, and cancel the army’s Agnipath scheme.
READ | Centre vs South States Over “Unfair Allocation” Of Funds
The lengthy checklist of ‘assure’ calls for mirrored guarantees made by the DMK in its manifesto for this election. Launched final month, the doc says the Tamil occasion will repeal the Citizenship Modification Act and, general, evaluate the BJP’s “anti-people legal guidelines”.
READ | ‘One Nation, One Election’, CAA In DMK’s Lok Sabha Ballot Manifesto
“The DMK continues to do what we are saying… that is what our leaders taught us. We went everywhere in the state and listened to the folks. This isn’t a DMK manifesto… it’s the folks’s manifesto,” Mr Stalin stated.
Among the many guarantees made had been slicing petrol and diesel costs to Rs 75 and Rs 65 per litre, scrapping of the Uniform Civil Code, and 33 per cent reservation for girls in Parliament and Assemblies.
PM Modi In Tamil Nadu
Earlier right this moment the Prime Minister spoke at rallies in Mettupalayam and Vellore, at which he attacked the DMK and the Congress-led INDIA opposition bloc, of which it’s a member.
The speeches included jabs at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and the Chief Minister’s son, Udhayanidhi Stalin, who was on the coronary heart of the ‘Sanatana Dharma‘ controversy.
READ | PM’s “Bear in mind Jayalalithaa” DMK Jab In Solo Tamil Nadu Battle
It additionally included a reference to the late former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa; her All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was an ally until a dramatic break-up final 12 months.
Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha Election
Tamil Nadu votes within the first section of the seven-phase Lok Sabha election.
The outcomes shall be declared on June 4. Within the 2019 election the DMK-Congress alliance swept the state, profitable 38 of its 39 seats. The DMK gained 24, the Congress 10, and the AIADMK one. The BJP bought zero.
With enter from PTI
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