DMK not afraid of 'ordinary persons' like Modi, Shah: A Raja

Chennai: The DMK was not afraid of "ordinary persons" like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and has a "counter-ideology" to that of the BJP that would ensure the saffron party doesn't gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu, senior party leader A Raja said here on Monday.

Addressing a press conference here in response to Amit Shah's criticism of the ruling DMK in Madurai on Sunday, Raja claimed the BJP veteran's remarks on various issues were "blatant lies, disgusting and divisive." The Lok Sabha MP asserted that the BJP cannot gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu, where Assembly polls are due next year, unlike Delhi or Maharashtra since the Dravidian ideology was a counter to the saffron one.

"How did (AAP chief) Arvind Kejriwal come to power (in Delhi)-- he only opposed corruption, did he have an ideology, were there leaders behind him....we are not afraid of Amit Shah and Modi-- after all, they are ordinary persons. The political ideology behind them is invading everywhere and winning, but why is it unable to win here. Because we have an alternative to that ideology," he said referring to the Dravidian philosophy.

"As long as Dravidian ideology is there, they cannot gain foothold in Tamil Nadu. We are not Delhi, Maharashtra and Haryana. We are Tamil Nadu, we are Dravidam, (BJP) cannot come here," he said.

Shah on Sunday asserted that the NDA would form governments in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal next year and targeted the DMK regime in the state by firing fresh "corruption" salvos, including the Rs 4,600 crore sand mining scam. BJP is part of the AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu.

While Raja said the DMK can disprove Shah "word-by-word," on whatever he spoke in Madurai, the people of Tamil Nadu will not accept such things from the BJP leader.

"His remarks don' suit his office of Union Home minister. To put in a nutshell whatever he spoke, they were blatant lies, disgusting and divisive," Raja claimed.

The union minister made "baseless charges," against the ruling dispensation, he said.

"TN Chief Minister M K Stalin has ensured law and order and despite central funds being not available on many occasions, has implemented growth schemes from state funds quickly and unable to digest this, the Centre and the BJP brought Shah to Tamil Nadu," he alleged.

He also lashed out at the Centre over issues including the proposed census and the delimitation.

On Centre approving a caste census, he recalled the BJP's earlier opposition to it and criticism of those demanding such an enumeration and wondered why it has changed its stand now.

On the BJP's upcoming conference on Lord Muruga in Madurai, Raja claimed it was being held with the intention of creating communal rift and derive political mileage out of that.