Kancheepuram (Tamil Nadu), March 30 DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin launched his Assembly election campaign here on Monday, asserting that the election is a battle to drive out AIADMK chief Palaniswami.
The election is about preventing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah from gaining power, he said.
Launching his campaign here in the hometown of DMK founder leader CN Annadurai (1909-1969), Udhayanidhi, addressing a large rally, recalled his father and party chief MK Stalin's statement that the upcoming election is a fight between Tamil Nadu and Delhi, and asserted that the BJP should not be allowed.
Alleging that AIADMK chief Palaniswami is PM Modi's "puppet", Udhayanidhi claimed that the Leader of the Opposition's "ideological mentors are PM Modi and Amit Shah".
"Therefore, the Assembly election is all about 'driving out' AIADMK chief Palaniswami. Can we allow PM Modi and Amit Shah in Tamil Nadu?" he asked, adding that people would not allow it.
Further, he said: "In this election, we must prove that Tamil Nadu is always independent of Delhi. Tamil Nadu must completely sideline the BJP, which is betraying the state; this must be done."
He listed out the DMK regime's welfare schemes, including the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme and the fare-free bus travel scheme for women.
He also listed out infrastructure schemes implemented for Kanchipuram and appealed to people to support DMK's 'Rising Sun' symbol.
Udhayanidhi visited Anna's memorial and paid floral tributes to the party icon before launching his campaign.
He said while he started the campaign from Kancheepuram, CM Stalin is set to launch the campaign from Tiruvarur on Tuesday, the hometown of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi.
However, Palaniswami started his campaign from Mylapore, a constituency in Chennai allotted to the BJP.
Addressing an election meeting at Vandavasi, Udhayanidhi said that with 11.19 per cent growth, the state is in the first place. "We in Tamil Nadu have achieved this. But is the Union government supporting us? Is the Union government giving us the funds we request? Is the Union government giving us any good scheme? Nothing. They are snatching away state's rights, including educational rights. They brought the New Education Policy and though all states in India accepted it Tamil Nadu did not."
He said that if this policy was allowed in Tamil Nadu, it will end up as an attempt to impose Hindi/Sanskrit on the people of Tamil Nadu through backdoor. The Rs 2,500 crore education fund that should come to TN has not come to this day.
Udhayanidhi alleged: "The Union Education Minister says only if we accept the new education policy will they give it. Our Chief Minister said, not Rs 2,500 crore, even if you give Rs 10,000 crore, the New Education Policy cannot be allowed to be imposed on the people of Tamil Nadu."
Furthermore, he said that while the Centre "betrayed" the state, Palaniswami has formed an alliance with the BJP that helms the union government.
He ridiculed the AIADMK chief, saying, "there is a proverb: A lid that fits the pot. You might have heard it. Like that, today Edappadi Palaniswami has turned into a slave fit for PM Modi. In politics, we have seen fierce devotees, we have seen fierce workers. But today, in the form of Edappadi Palaniswami, all of India is seeing a fierce slave, and Tamil Nadu is seeing it today."