PM Modi addresses a mammoth gathering of his party cadre at Kanyakumari

Kanyakumari: Prime Minister Narendra Modi came down heavily upon the DMK, accusing it as being against Tamil culture and tradition. Addressing a mammoth gathering of his party cadre at Kanyakumari on Friday, Modi criticised the Congress-DMK combine for issuing a ban on the traditional bull-taming sport jallikattu of the Tamils. “After the BJP government came to power in 2014, the ban on jallikattu was removed,” he said.

The Prime Minister added that the DMK could not stomach the honour given to ancient Tamil tradition by placing the ‘sengol’ (sceptre) from Tamil Nadu at the central hall of the newly-constructed Parliament. Further stating that he visited all the ancient and traditional temples of Tamil Nadu before attending the Ayodhya Ram temple consecration, he said the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had prevented people from witnessing the event. Modi charged the DMK with ignoring Tamil culture and tradition. He would stand as a protector of Tamil tradition and until he was there, nobody could shake the roots of Tamil culture and tradition, Modi said.

Listing out the schemes his government from the Centre has brought out for the welfare of Tamil Nadu, Modi said the DMK-Congress combine of the INDIA front had done nothing for the development of the state. “They are still waiting to exploit the people of Tamil Nadu by winning the election,” he alleged. Claiming that the Central government, during the past 10 years since 2014, had liberally allocated funds to Tamil Nadu for infrastructure development, Modi said among the Centrally-sponsored road projects, Rs 50,000 crore worth



works have been completed and more projects for Rs 70,000 crore are being implemented.

Comparing the Rs 6,300 crore worth railway development projects allotted to the state since 2014 with that of the Rs 800 crore worth railway projects allotted during the UPA government between 2004 and 2014, the Prime Minister said the Congress-DMK combine concentrated only on corruption during their regime from 2004. “We have to our credit, optical fibre scheme, introduction of 5G, digital India scheme, the Udan scheme and developing India in the field of sports through Khelo India scheme, while the DMK and the Congress have only corruptions like the 2G, in which the DMK benefited a lot, the helicopter scam and the coal scam as their achievements,” he said.

Happy over the overwhelming response shown at the meeting, Modi said Kanyakumari has been showering its blessing on the BJP that has made many sleepless. Remembering the Murli Manohar Joshi-led Ekta Yatra, of which he was a part, Modi said in 1992, he took the yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and now the wave has come from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Predicting a hat trick victory for the NDA, Modi said the DMK-Congress combine would be wiped out of Tamil Nadu. Senior BJP leaders, Pon Radhakrishnan, L. Murugan. K. Annamalai, Arvind Menon, Sudhakar Reddy, Vanathi Srinivasan and M.R. Gandhi, and John Pandian of Tamilaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, and the new entrants to the party, Sarath Kumar, his wife Radhika Sarath Kumar and Vijayadharani, were on the public meeting stage along with Modi.