Congratulating the Congress for its victory in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday said the “landmass of Dravidian family” now stands clear of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and appealed to Opposition parties to work together to win the 2024 elections to restore “democracy and constitutional values in India.”
Stalin, in a statement, said the “unjustifiable disqualification” of Rahul Gandhi as MP was one of the issues that weighed heavily in the minds of the people when voting against the BJP. One of the few proponents of the Congress being the vanguard of the Opposition alliance, Stalin personally spoke to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Karnataka Congress veterans Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar over the phone and congratulated them on the victory.
“The unjustifiable disqualification of brother Rahul Gandhi as MP, misusing premier investigative agencies against political opponents, imposing Hindi, rampant corruption have all echoed in the minds of Karnataka people while voting and they have upheld the Kannadiga Pride by teaching a befitting lesson to BJP's vindictive politics,” Stalin said.
Congrats @INCIndia on spectacular winning of Karnataka. The unjustifiable disqualification of brother @RahulGandhi as MP, misusing premier investigative agencies against political opponents, imposing Hindi, rampant corruption have all echoed in the minds of Karnataka people while…
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) May 13, 2023
“The landmass of the Dravidian family stands clear of BJP. Now let us all work together to win 2024 to restore democracy and constitutional values in India,” he added. Other alliance partners of the DMK like VCK too congratulated the Congress on its stupendous performance in Karnataka.
Stalin has been asking Opposition parties to come together on a “single platform” to take on the BJP in the 2024 polls. He has also been speaking against the Third Front saying it was “pointless” and will never reach the shores.
With Kharge by his side on his 70th birthday celebrations, Stalin had strongly pitched for Congress as the fulcrum of the Opposition alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister was also categorical that an anti-BJP front without the Congress was not a “workable option” and said Opposition parties in the country should take a leaf out of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, an amalgamation of several political parties, which has won all elections held in Tamil Nadu after 2019.
“Opposition parties should be united. At the same time, we should reject the talks about non-Congress alliance. It will not work out. Post-electoral alliance is also not practical. Talks of Third Front are pointless. It (Third Front) will never reach the shore. All political parties opposed to the BJP should understand this simple electoral arithmetic and stand united,” Stalin had said.