If voted to power, NDA won’t hesitate to change TN’s name as Dakshina Pradesh: Stalin

Launching a tirade against the Opposition AIADMK and the BJP, Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Wednesday alleged that the NDA, if voted to power in the assembly election, will obliterate even the identity of Tamil Nadu by rechristening it as ‘Dakshina Pradesh’ and to prevent this, he called for unity under one banner against the saffron alliance.

“The evil consequences of the BJP and its subservient slavish parivar coming to power is unthinkable. As such, it is necessary to defeat the BJP and those aligned with it. For, Tamil Nadu should remain Tamil Nadu. The canards unleashed by the NDA constituents are intended to destroy Tamil Nadu and hinder its development,” Stalin said, addressing an election rally at Trichy.

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“Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is always on tour mode, is not aware of the rapid strides the state has made in every domain under the DMK government, for he either doesn’t have the time or is not interested to know,” he said and asked him to stay here for a week and see for himself how the state remains among the top in the country. “The Prime Minister should speak on women’s safety not in Tamil Nadu but in states ruled by the BJP. Tamil Nadu should not become a jungle of violence like Manipur or Uttar Pradesh,” he made it clear, adding that the electoral fight is not only for the victory of the DMK and its allies, but for Tamil Nadu.

“Our superfast engine of the Dravidian model will never bow down to the ‘dabba engine’ of the BJP. Shall we show them our speed and challenge as to who will win the election – Team Tamil Nadu or Team Delhi. In the last 12 years of its rule, the BJP had not done anything for Tamil Nadu. Not even a single special project has been allotted and even the AIIMS hospital promised for Madurai is yet to be completed,” The Chief Minister said.

Directing his ire at the AIADMK, he said, “The only achievement of Palaniswami (AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami – EPS), is turning the party into a crowd of slaves of the BJP. Least bothered about anything and to anyone, he has become a palanquin bearer of the BJP to protect his position and apprehensive of action by central agencies in the corruption charges against him. Without any sense of shame EPS had said that he doesn’t know what Dravidam is as he had not read puranas,” Stalin alleged.

Castigating EPS for supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the three Farm Laws. “Betraying the minorities and the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, it was the AIADMK and Anbumani Ramadoss of the Pattali Makkal Katchi who have helped the passage of the CAA in the Rajya Sabha. But, in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Their hands are stained with the blood of 70 people who lost their lives and those who faced police brutality in the protests. However, he made a U-Turn during the 2024 Lok Sabha election when the AIADMK left the NDA, saying that the CAA was a historical blunder. But, again, he is making a somersault asking to prove whether any Muslim had been affected by the CAA,” he said and asked him to make it clear as to whether he is supporting or opposing it.