“Tamil Nadu is at the cusp of a historic political change owing to the BJP’s ‘En Mann, En Makkal’ padayatra,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Tiruppur on Tuesday.
“The electorate in Tamil Nadu will play a pivotal role in installing BJP government at the Centre for the third term,” Mr Modi said launching the 2024 Lok Sabha poll campaign at Madappur near Palladam, which coincided with the culmination of the padayatra.
Crediting State BJP president K. Annamalai for the impact, he claimed the people’s response to the padayatra reflected endorsement of the party’s ‘nation first’ ideal.
“The BJP’s growth in Tamil Nadu has caused the ‘jittery’ DMK regime to divert the attention of the people owing to the fear of losing power,” he charged at the public meeting.
According to him, the people in Tamil Nadu were now convinced of ‘Modi guarantee’.
Seeking to strike a personal chord with the people, he said, “My association with Tamil Nadu is not just political, but deep-rooted in my heart. He recalled his propagation of Tamil literature in international fora, installation of the “holy” ‘Sengol’ in new Parliament building, conduct of Kasi Tamil Sangamam as proof of this. Mr. Modi also noted that in 1991 he was part of the ‘Ekta Yatra’ undertaken from Kanniyakumari to Lal Chowk in Sri Nagar, during which his resolve was to ensure Article 370 (that accorded special status to Kashmir) was scrapped.
Training his guns repeatedly at the DMK in the State, the Prime Minister charged that as a constituent of the UPA government twice, the “family-based” DMK, despite having plum portfolios, did precious little for the welfare of Tamil Nadu. On the other hand, the BJP government had, since 2014, sanctioned funds three times more for Tamil Nadu’s growth.
The welfare of the poor being of utmost importance for the NDA government, the people of Tamil Nadu were convinced of the ‘Modi guarantee’ promise.
The Prime Minister said if late Chief Ministers MGR and Jayalalithaa were still in the hearts of the people, it was because of the welfare schemes for the poor they had implemented.
“Having conceded defeat in the North, the INDIA bloc was now keen on indulging in loot in Tamil Nadu. The opposition parties were least bothered about issues facing the poor, the fishermen, industry, and education, said Mr. Modi. “They (the INDIA bloc constituents) had ganged up primarily due to hatred towards me,” he charged.
The people in Tamil Nadu had made up their mind and would teach a lesson in the 2024 poll, he said.
BJP State president K. Annamalai, who spoke amidst constant cheering by the massive turnout of partymen donning saffron caps, said the task of defeating the DMK in all the 39 parliamentary constituencies had just begun after the padayatra. The next two months of work by the party cadre would be crucial, he said.
Union Minister of State for Fisheries L. Murugan, Tamil Maanila Congress leader G.K. Vasan, India Jananayaga Katchi’s leader T.R. Paarivendhar, Kamarajar Makkal Katchi’s Tamilarivumani and others espoke.
