Describing the BJP as a “social virus”, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday, said the party had indulged in a misuse of power, and unleashed repression and intimidation not just against its political rivals, but also against journalists, humanists and progressive thinkers.
“We are bravely facing this social virus,” the CM said, while interacting with Wing2Point, a social media volunteer group.
Mr. Stalin said the DMK had endured the emergency, the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act or TADA, the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 or POTA and all sorts of other intimidatory tactics that the BJP wielded, as well as the bundle of lies it spread. “[Adolf] Hitler has just one [Joseph] Goebbels. But the BJP is functioning like a political party that is run by a gang of just Goebbels. They will disparage anyone. They lie, and they do not have any guilt about telling lies. They use the ‘Whatsapp University’ [to their benefit],” he said.
The Chief Minister said the DMK was fighting, “The BJP and the AIADMK, two enemies of the people.”
“On the one hand we are directly fighting fascism and on the other, we have launched an attack on forces that seek to divide people on the lines of caste. The BJP’s fascist ideas are not only against our movement and ideology, but against humanity as a whole,” he said
The Chief Minister said the BJP was, “spreading canards since there is a herd that is ready to believe them.”
“But they (the BJP) are irritated since we have pricked their balloons. We do not want false honours. We need honour for true work. Our news should be based on facts and should not follow the model of the BJP,” he said.
Referring to the messages spread on social media platforms about his wife Durga’s visit to temples, Mr. Stalin said she was a regular at many temples in Tamil Nadu and it was purely a personal issue. “We are against Aryan domination and not against spirituality. Temple worship and devotion are personal liberties. It is the Dravidian movement that organised the temple entry movement and secured rights for all sections of the society to enter temples. The BJP is using bhakti for its political goals,” he alleged.
Mr. Stalin said the people of Tamil Nadu were rationalists who could draw a line between spiritualism and politics. “They ( the BJP) are spreading messages that temples are being demolished. But the ‘Dravidian model’ DMK government has performed kumbabishekam for 1,000 temples and retrieved temple properties worth ₹5,000 crore. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department has published a guide about it,” he said.
“A burglar doesn’t like the lights. The gang that seeks to gain political mileage by instigating communal violence does not like proper maintenance of temples,” he quipped.
