Modi dubs mega Opposition coalition as ‘unholy alliance’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lashed out at the proposed mega party coalition or a mahagathbandhan to take on the ruling BJP at the Centre, and termed it an “unholy alliance” of various political parties for ‘personal survival.’

People will see through the ‘incoherent alliance’ of ‘rich dynasties,’ Modi said during his interaction with booth workers from Chennai Central, Chennai North, Madurai, Tiruchy and Tiruvallur constituencies in the state.

DMK president MK Stalin, who had recently proposed Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as opposition’s Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, was one of the leaders incarcerated during the Emergency, he said. Recalling the past rivalry between Congress and its southern ally DMK, Modi said none had forgotten where the two parties stood on the Jain Commission. “That time Congress said either it is DMK or it is us. But today, they are together. If not opportunism, what explains their alliance,” he asked.

The Prime Minister asked the BJP cadre and functionaries to speak to senior citizens more frequently and explain the schemes introduced by the Centre for them.

In his address, Modi said, “Meet senior citizens in the morning when they are on their regular walk and in the evening when they visit temples. Explain the schemes of the Central government and tell them that the schemes have eased their lives.”

Modi also explained about the various schemes to the BJP cadre and asked them to either have the details of the schemes in a paper or in their mobile phones so that when they talk with the public, they can speak about the schemes accurately.

“Expenditure for health-related issues is common among senior citizens. Jan-Aushadi stores are bringing revolution in health careas medicines are sold at 70 per cent lesser cost. Over 40,000 stores across India are operational,” said Modi.

He further said that prices of cardiac stents and knee implants have also reduced by 60 to 70 per cent. Modi also quoted another scheme for senior citizens in which obtaining pensions was made simpler by the Central government.

“Many of our senior citizens are pensioners and they have faced a lot of issues in receiving it. To resolve this issue, their accounts were linked to their Aaadhar card and in Jeevan Praman Portal, the process of getting their pension was made simpler,” he said. He further said that over 2 crore pensioners were linked in the portal, since 2014.

After Modi’s address, Tamilsai Soundararajan, state BJP president, while addressing reporters condemned DMK president MK Stalin for calling Modi a sadist. She in turn called Stalin “saddest.”

“Stalin has proposed Congress president Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister candidate but his proposal was not accepted by other parties in the alliance. Stalin’s proposal will fail,” she said.