DMK has scant respect for women: Amit Shah

Chennai: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that the DMK has scant respect for women and the derogatory speech made by DMK leader A. Raja against the late mother of Chief Minister K. Palaniswami is a clear testimony to that.

Last week, Raja had made the comments while comparing the political journeys of DMK chief M.K. Stalin and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister when he said, “One can say Stalin is born in the proper way, nine months after a proper marriage and rituals. Whereas Edappadi (Palaniswami) is born like a premature baby and came all of a sudden.”

On Thursday, the Election Commission banned Raja from campaigning for the April 6 Tamil Nadu elections for 48 hours, terming his remarks as “obscene” and against the “dignity of motherhood of women”.

Lambasting the DMK leader, Shah on Thursday called upon the women of Tamil Nadu to teach Raja and DMK a lesson in the ensuing Assembly elections.

Speaking at Vilupuram district in Tamil Nadu, the Union Home Minister said, “Both Congress and DMK are interested in safeguarding their family members. While Sonia Gandhi is worried about her son Rahul Gandhi, Stalin is looking after his heir apparent Udhayanidhi Stalin.”

Shah said that while the NDA is focused on the development of Tamil Nadu and the country, the Congress and DMK are indulging in corruption and dynastic politics.

Earlier addressing a rally at Thiirukovilur, Shah said, “I am surprised that DMK leader M.K. Stalin is speaking against corruption. Hope he has not forgotten the 2G scams as well as the massive corruption in Sun TV.”

He also said that both the Congress and the DMK are partners in crime, adding that these two parties are interested in land grabbing, rowdyism, corruption and dynastic politics.

Shah said that the late founder of AIADMK, M.G. Ramachandran, had worked for the poor and the downtrodden while late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had carried forward his legacy.

The Union Home Minister said that both Chief Minister Palaniswami and his deputy O. Panneerselvam are carrying forward the legacy of the late MGR and Jayalalithaa with the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He also said that the Union government had named the Chennai Central railway station after MGR.

“BJP, AIADMK and PMK will keep MGR’s legacy alive and function under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Shah said.

The senior BJP leader also said that a divine intervention had prevented the Congress from coming to power at the Centre and had it come to power, Jallikattu would have been banned in the state. He said that Rahul Gandhi had given approval for banning Jallikattu.

Earlier in the morning, Shah had landed at the Puducherry airport from where he went straight to the Srimath Guru Sithanandha Swamikal Devasthanam in Karuvadikuppam.

He later took out a roadshow and campaigned at Lawspet, Kapalet and Kamaraj Nagar constituencies before leaving for Thirukovilur in Tamil Nadu.