Speaking at the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) general council meeting, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday, October 9, said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will do anything to win the next Lok Sabha elections. “They will stoop to any level. As they do not have any victories of their own to talk about, they spread rumours about us and do politics. BJP is breathless in Tamil Nadu as the state’s people do not confuse religion with politics,” he said adding, “We cannot become apathetic because we have won in the Assembly elections. We must make our victory last.” He further sounded the poll bugle, asking party workers to prepare themselves to face the 2024 Assembly elections.
Stalin was on Sunday elected unopposed as the president of the DMK for a second term during the party’s general council meeting. He was elected the president of the party in August, 2018, following the death of former Chief Minister, DMK party president and his father M Karunanidhi. At the meeting on Sunday, Stalin also commented on the leadership tussle within the All India Anna Dravida Kazhgam (AIADMK). “After Jayalalithaa’s death, the party has fallen and split four ways. They have no other ideology than to oppose the DMK. This is why today they are in a slump. Only if there are eligible leaders and strong ideals can any party win,” he said. Stalin added that the BJP, which had “no victories of their own and the AIADMK which was in pieces right now, would try to spread lies about the DMK during elections. They will try to humiliate us, only our welfare schemes and accomplishments can be an answer to their accusations.”
Further, the Chief Minister, seemingly as a response to recent statements made by party leaders that have drawn flak, cautioned those at the meeting about the words they use in public spaces. “I am duty-bound to answer questions from all sides. When I am already in such a position, if party leaders behave in a way that causes me concern, what am I to say? The actions of some ministers are giving me sleepless nights. Your actions should bring you praise, not make you look smaller. Because of the way some have behaved in public spaces, the party has been subject to criticism,” he warned.
The CM also said that booth committees should be formed in the next two months and that he would personally review the progress. Further, he instructed those who have been given leadership positions that they must take the inputs of even those who have not been elected to similar positions.
Speaking at the same event, Thoothukudi MP and now deputy secretary of DMK, Kanimozhi, said, “It hasn’t been even a hundred years since our children started getting the opportunity for education, but already sanatana dharma forces want to send them back home questioning their need for education. Our Dravidian Model is bringing equal rights to women, but these forces want to shut women up in kitchens again. Through the National Education Policy and entrance exams, they are plotting to send our children back to do the work they were once doing."