Thoothukudi/Chennai: Tamil Nadu BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan on Tuesday triggered a war of words with DMK chief M.K. Stalin in claiming he was negotiating a post-poll deal with her party leadership.
Reacting sharply, Mr Stalin not only denied her allegation but also challenged her to prove it or else quit politics. On his part, he said he would leave politics if she was able to deliver the proof.
Speaking to reporters at Thoothukudi, with AIADMK leader and state food minister R. Kamaraj seated next to her, Dr Tamilisai responded with a broad smile to a question on whether Mr Stalin was in talks with the BJP. “That’s true and everyone knows it. They change colours — on one side Rahul, K. Chandrasekhar Rao... and Modi on another side”, she said, obviously referring to the Telangana CM’s visit for talks with Mr Stalin Monday.
The DMK had already explained that KCR had paid a “courtesy call”, but that did not cut ice with many. Senior AIADMK minister D. Jayakumar raised a question: “Courtesy call for over an hour?” In his opinion too, Mr Stalin and the DMK have been in touch with the BJP in the hope they could get strike a deal with the BJP to get four or five Cabinet berths in return for the support of DMK MPs. “DMK alone has the capability to sail in three boats at the same time,” the minister said.
Hitting back, Mr Stalin said despite coming from a political family known for uprightness, Dr Tamilisai has now stooped low in uttering “a blatant lie”. It was he who had proposed Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of the Opposition combine and it was he who had spearheaded the campaign to unseat Mr Modi from being PM. The BJP was “sowing confusion” as it was now terrified being “on the verge of defeat”, Mr Stalin said in a statement.
The DMK chief also recalled that he had consistently attacked Mr Modi, described him as “fascist”, “sadist” and “authoritarian”, whose government must be unseated in this election for heaping “untold miseries” upon the people in the past five years. And he has been talking against Mr Modi not just in Tamil Nadu but also at the Mamata Banerjee-sponsored rally of Opposition parties in Kolkata.
As for Telangana CM KCR, he had met him last year too while the Monday rendezvous was just a “courtesy call”, insisted Mr Stalin. The DMK would not be involved in any “backdoor dealings” in making alliances. “The DMK has been transparent. We have made clear who should be the Prime Minister and who should be not. The DMK is determined Modi should not become PM again,” Mr Stalin said, adding: “We are even more clear that Rahul Gandhi should head the next government.”
The DMK’s ally, the Congress, also hit out at Dr Tamilisai, with PCC president K.S. Alagiri accusing her of uttering falsehoods “only out of desperation” and scared of defeat in the elections. When even West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had refused to speak to Mr Modi when he called her to discuss Cyclone Fani, “what is Stalin going to discuss with the PM?” asked Mr Alagiri.
Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses etc all. Happy reading.
