DMK chief said BJP's efforts to set foot in Tamil Nadu would not succeed (File)
DMK President MK Stalin on Thursday hit out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for accusing his party of failing to safeguard women during its regime, saying he had no moral right to say so.
The fact is that the highest number of atrocities and sexual assaults against women and girls were reported from Uttar Pradesh, as per the record bureau of Central government, he said, adding the chief minister of that state is accusing DMK on women's issues.
"What moral right Yogi (Adityanath) has to blame the DMK," Mr Stalin asked at an election meeting at Koundampalayam in the city.
Why Yogi Adityanath, for that matter prime minister Narendra Modi who had also raised the issue of women's protection during DMK-Congress period, did not seek details of "mysterious" death of former chief minister Jayalalithaa, who was also a woman, the DMK chief said.
Meanwhile, at a meeting in Mettupalayam near here to seek votes for the DMK candidates, Stalin urged the Prime Minister to go and see the status of the proposed AIIMS in Madurai, when he visits the city on April 2 for election campaign.
He reminded Modi that the AIIMS was announced in the 2015 budget and the foundation stone was laid in 2017 by the Prime Minister himself.
Since there was no progress in the construction, Mr Stalin requested the prime minister to visit the area and see for himself the status of the proposed hospital.
"If you do not find the brick which was laid for foundation, officials may tell that it was taken by Mr Udayanidhi (Mr Stalin's son)," he said. (Mr Udayanidhi was campaigning in and around Madurai with a brick with AIIMS written on it.)
Mr Stalin also took a dig at Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami and asked whether he had courage to seek clarification on the issues being faced by Tamil Nadu and its population, while sharing the stage with Modi.
Is Mr Palaniswami brave enough to oppose CAA and ask PM Modi to withdraw it, exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET and withdraw three farm laws affecting the lives of crores of farmers and benefiting a few corporate companies, he asked.
Similarly, the chief minister should also ask PM Modi to issue an order to the Tamil Nadu governor to release the seven convicts in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and why the Indian government abstained from voting on UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka, Mr Stalin said.
The DMK chief said the BJP's efforts to set foot in Tamil Nadu would not succeed.
"(PM) Modi's attempt to set foot in Tamil Nadu, the Dravidian soil, the soil where Periyar, Annadurai and Karunanidhi were born, by spreading communal hatred, will not not succeed," he added.
Highlighting the main points in the DMK manifesto, like Rs 100 subsidy for LPG cylinders, Mr Stalin said the AIADMK government, the slave of the Centre, should be ousted for the welfare of the state and people.