Modi calls Cong 'high-handed' ally of DMK, rakes up Sabarimala issue in Kerala

Arrogance a sin

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Referring to the gold, dollar and solar cases, which has tainted the two fronts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “The first sin is arrogance. The UDF and LDF feel that they can never be defeated.This has made their leaders very arrogant and disconnected from their roots, while the second sin is their greed for money.”

The Congress invoked Article 356 several times and both DMK and AIADMK governments in Tamil Nadu have been dismissed by that party in the past

Kanyakumari (TN), April 2

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called the Congress ‘high-handed’, saying it lacked an understanding of local sensibilities and asserted that his government did not see people’s caste or faith before serving them.

In Tamil Nadu, the situation was such that senior DMK leaders who worked shoulder to shoulder with late party patriarch ‘Kalaignar’ (M Karunanidhi) were feeling suffocated due to ‘the newly minted crown prince’ of the party (DMK youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin), he said, addressing a poll meeting here, adding that ‘politics did not work this way’.

“Today, the mood of the nation is clearly against the politics of nepotism and entitlement.” The Opposition loved calling people anti-democratic, but they should see the ‘nearest mirror’, he said. “The Congress invoked Article 356 several times and both DMK and AIADMK governments in Tamil Nadu have been dismissed by that party in the past,” he said.

Having the Congress, hence, in any coalition meant having a high-handed ally, he alleged. “Our ideology is sab ka saath, sab ka vikaas and sab ka viswaas,” and at the root of this mantra lay the spirit of compassion towards everyone, he said. “Our government does not see people’s caste, creed or faith before serving them. Ours is a government for everyone,” he asserted and recalled his government’s efforts to buttress his point. In Kerala, the Prime Minister attacked the Left government for its action against Ayyappa devotees during Sabarimala protests, saying they tried to “destabilise” sacred places and that devotees were not criminals.

The Ayyappa devotees, who should have been welcomed with flowers, were lathi-charged, Modi said bringing up the Sabarimala women entry issue at an election rally at Konni in Pathnamthitta district, near the famous Lord Ayyappa shrine. The state had witnessed violent protests after the LDF government decided to implement the 2018 Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages to offer prayers at the shrine. Rightwing outfits had staged protests against the government’s decision to implement the verdict. Continuing his attack on the Left, Modi said: “But what has the LDF done? First, it tried to distort the picture and image of Kerala and tried to show the Kerala culture as backward.Then, it tried to destabilise sacred places by using their agents who carried out mischief.” The devotees of Swami Ayyappa, who should have been welcomed with flowers, were welcomed with lathis, he said. “I want to state clearly that the innocent devotees of Swami Ayyappa are not criminals,” Modi, who is on his second leg of campaign tour in the southern state, said.

Communism had done everything to portray Indian culture in bad light and it woud no longer be allowed to trample over the country’s culture.

“For decades, the Left cabalhad done everything to portray Indian culture in poor light.Their lies would not go on anymore. An imported and internationally rejected ideology will no longer be allowed to trample over the culture of our land.”

“This is why Babasaheb Ambedkar questioned if Communism and free democracy can ever co-exist? He said that communism is like a forest fire that will burn and consume everything,” he said, adding the BJP karyakartas would stand in the way of any effort to trample over the Indian culture. PTI