"We will fight the forces determined to destroy our constitutional values," Sonia Gandhi said.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi hit out at the BJP for destroying the country's constitutional values, and sought "steadfast and strong ties" between her party and the DMK to trounce BJP in 2019.
Sonia Gandhi, who unveiled a statue of late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi at the Dravidian party's headquarters in Chennai, praised him for being a "democrat and believer in parliamentary institutions". She added that Congress would always remember his support to Indira Gandhi's bank nationalisation and abolition of privy purses initiatives.
''It is my earnest desire that the mutual support of our parties to each other must remain strong and steadfast as when Karunanidhi ji was guiding us...and as we wage together a battle with the political forces that are determined to destroy our constitutional values, our institutions and the idea of India as you know it,'' she said in an apparent reference to the BJP.
Sonia Gandhi said the message of unity among the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) should reach the people. "Let the message go to the people of Tamil Nadu and the country that we are united and determined to protect and preserve our country's constitution and its values that has built and sustained India over the last 70 years," she said.
Recalling her association with M Karunanidhi, Sonia Gandhi said he was a great support and strength for the UPA from 2004 to 2014. ''I personally remember that we looked up to his knowledge and experience to guide our coalition government," she said.