ED raids: Efforts to intimidate us won't succeed us, says CM Stalin

Salem: Ruling DMK President and Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday lashed out at the BJP over the ED raids on his cabinet colleague I Periyasamy, claiming such agency action is targeted against opposition parties not towing the saffron party's line.

Such intimidation tactics won't work against his party that has successfully managed to cross many difficulties and challenges in the past, he said in his address at the 26th State Conference of the CPI here.

Taking a swipe at the Election Commission over the controversy surrounding the Special Intensive Revision in poll-bound Bihar, he lauded Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for flagging the alleged electoral fraud in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

In his address, Stalin said that the BJP was implementing all those things that "we had warned of" if it forms government at the Centre.

This includes "making Hindi compulsory," and promoting RSS. "The PM has praised RSS in his Independence Day address." In government ads, V D Savarkar's picture was prominent than that of Mahatma Gandhi, he said in an apparent reference to the row over a Union Petroleum ministry's publicity content.

"We said they would intimidate opposition parties that don't tow their line by using the ED against them. They are repeatedly carrying out raids. Even today, they have conducted raids at minister Periyasamy's house," Stalin said.

DMK would not be cowed down by such tactics, he asserted.

"Those who had tried to threaten us have felt intimidated. DMK has faced worse oppression. We are used to swimming in streams of fire. Your (BJP) intention will never fructify. As usual, people will hand you (electoral) defeat," Stalin said.

Further, training his guns against the EC, he accused the BJP of turning it into its "controlled puppet".

On the SIR row, he thanked and lauded Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha for taking up the issue and slammed the EC for asking him to file affidavit on the matter.

"The basic document of the election process is the voters' roll. It is imperative to prepare a precise, flawless roll for free and fair polls. Can't the EC even do that? It has failed to do the Constitutional responsibility given to it," Stalin charged.

Much like the DMK-headed Secular Progressive Alliance won the 2021 polls, it would emerge triumphant in the next year's election also, he said.

The 'comrades' should aid in this, Stalin added.

CPI general secretary D Raja, among others, was present.