Chennai:
Within hours of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's elevation as the BJP's 2014 prime ministerial candidate, DMK chief M Karunanidhi said his party "will not backtrack from its anti-communal stand, even if those who we don't support contest to become the Prime Minister."
When reporters first asked him for his comments, Mr Karunanidhi shot back saying, "Tell me what's Mr Advani's comment, then you can ask for mine". Mr Advani, who is the BJP's senior-most leader, had refused to support the decision on making Mr Modi the party's PM candidate.
The DMK was in alliance with the BJP as part of the National Democratic Alliance between 1999 and 2004. The party had then snapped ties alleging the BJP switched from the Common Minimum Programme, which outlines the minimum objectives of a coalition government in India.
Critics accuse Mr Modi of not doing enough to stem communal violence in Gujarat in 2002; some have even alleged that he quietly encouraged it - allegations that he has strenuously denied and that have never been proved in inquiries.
When reporters first asked him for his comments, Mr Karunanidhi shot back saying, "Tell me what's Mr Advani's comment, then you can ask for mine". Mr Advani, who is the BJP's senior-most leader, had refused to support the decision on making Mr Modi the party's PM candidate.
The DMK was in alliance with the BJP as part of the National Democratic Alliance between 1999 and 2004. The party had then snapped ties alleging the BJP switched from the Common Minimum Programme, which outlines the minimum objectives of a coalition government in India.
Critics accuse Mr Modi of not doing enough to stem communal violence in Gujarat in 2002; some have even alleged that he quietly encouraged it - allegations that he has strenuously denied and that have never been proved in inquiries.
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