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Nadda toes Modi, lavishes praise on Tiruvalluvar
BJP working president JP Nadda on Saturday toed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Tamil pitch, hailing it as an ancient language and heaped praise on saint poet Tiruvalluvar in sync with the State unit’s line of identifying with the bard, who is synonymous with Tamil pride.
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Tiruvallur
Laying the foundation stone for party offices in 16 districts in Tamil Nadu, Nadda said the Congress and its ally the DMK leadership boasted waiving farm loans. “The Congress and the DMK leaderships boast that for the farmers, they have waived loans and given Rs 53,000 crore,” he said on his first one-day visit of Tamil Nadu after taking over as the BJP working chief.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under the Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, is giving Rs 6,000 per farmer and providing Rs 75,000 crore for farmers every year, he said.
“I find the Opposition sends confusing signals and have nothing to offer to the people of Tamil Nadu. They are always trying to ensure how sectarianism can develop. That is how they are functioning. The BJP is devoted to work for thepeople of Tamil Nadu.”
He also touched on fishermen and the Cauvery issues, which are among the key concerns of Tamil Nadu, to assert that the Centre has taken steps to protect the State’s interests.
“We’ve also taken...measures to ensure the shooting on the fishermen off the coast of Tamil Nadu ends. We’ve also settled the authority for Cauvery waters so that the rights of Tamil Nadu are secured...”
Toeing Modi’s Tamil pitch, Nadda said Indian culture was incomplete without Tamil culture and the State is home to maximum temples and ancient shrines as well. Tracing the legacy of Chera, Chola and Pandiya Kings of Tamil Nadu, he said such great rulers gave the direction to work for the people.
Repeating Modi’s ‘Yaadum Oorey’ verses from Sangam literature, he said Tamil Nadu was also the land of great freedom fighters, including VO Chidambaram Pillai and late President APJ Abdul Kalam.
Hailing saint poet Tiruvalluvar, he heaped praise on his classic Thirukkural as a mahakavya, one of the greatest literary works the Tamil language has ever produced.
The top BJP leader’s invoking of Tiruvalluvar, an undisputed icon of the Tamil social and cultural landscape, comes close on the heels of a recent row over his party’s State unit featuring Tiruvalluvar in saffron.
While the DMK and other Dravidian outfits cried foul, the BJP state unit was firm on its stand and maintained that Tiruvalluvar was a Hindu saint and there was nothing wrong in portraying him in saffron.
The saffron party leaders had said that originally the poet had been shown in old Tamil books as sporting the attire of a saint replete with ‘rudraksha,’ and his shawl’s colour was changed to white by the DMK.
“Tamil is one of the most ancient languages which humanity has seen. You can understand how important Tamil Nadu’s culture and literature is as PM Modi narrated several sentences in Tamil in the United Nations General Assembly,”Nadda said. Hailing Tamil culture as ancient, he said it has given direction not only to the people of Tamil Nadu, but to the people all over India.
“I feel indebted...the people and the culture of Tamil Nadu are special, which we will always remember,” he said.
Actors Radharavi, Namitha become BJP members
Actors Radha Ravi and Namitha on Saturday deserted the AIADMK camp and joined the BJP in the presence of BJP working president JP Nadda.
Nadda was on his maiden visit to the state to develop the party base here. Surprisingly, Radha Ravi met Nadda in Chennai Airport and joined the party in his presence.
Radha Ravi was suspended from the DMK in March, this year, for his comments on actress Nayanthara. Following the incident, he met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in June and joined the AIADMK.
Similarly, Namitha, who had joined the AIADMK in 2016, in the presence of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa deserted the party and joined the BJP.
She was one of the star speakers of the AIADMK in the election campaigns. She joined the party in the presence of Nadda in the evening.
Nadda holds talks
Meanwhile, Nadda held a meeting with the 11-member Core Committee of the BJP state unit in Thiruvallur and discussed the current political scenario, local body elections and the appointment of the state unit president.
Party sources said that majority of the BJP seniors wanted the party to go alone in the local body elections to prove their strength and did not want the BJP to be part of the AIADMK fearing that the Dravidian party will not allot required seats for the BJP.
Nadda has also expressed his reservation about moving out of the AIADMK alliance and was in favour of the alliance. He has also informed the party seniors that any decision on alliance will be taken only by the party leaders in Delhi.
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