Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP A Raja has come under criticism following a campaign speech in the Poonamallee Assembly constituency, where he appeared to conflate the ongoing Tamil Nadu Assembly elections with a Lok Sabha contest.
A video clip from the campaign, circulated widely on social media shows Raja urging voters to support the DMK candidate on the Rising Sun symbol and send the candidate to the Lok Sabha, despite the state being in the midst of Assembly polls. The speech, delivered at a public meeting for the DMK candidate in Poonamallee, was flagged by several Tamil media-linked social media accounts as a confusing moment during the campaign.
Observers noted that since Poonamallee is part of the Assembly election, Raja’s reference to the Lok Sabha has been interpreted either as a slip of the tongue or a lapse during a public address.
He said, “Now calculate this. Is there a Chief Minister in Bihar today? What is his name? Nitish Kumar is there, right? Just as Anna fought for Tamil Nadu and for Tamil Nadu’s rights, in the same way Nitish Kumar fought for the rights of his state, is missing. There is no Marathi leader today. They captured Maharashtra, they captured Uttar Pradesh, they captured Madhya Pradesh. One by one, they are coming down from Delhi, shouting Hindutva, Jai Shri Ram, Bharat Mata ki Jai. The problem is, wherever they cannot enter directly, they climb onto someone else’s shoulders. They could not enter Andhra, so they climbed onto Chandrababu Naidu’s shoulders and came up to Tiruttani. Then when they tried to enter here, an ellaichaami (border guardian deity) is standing there and not allowing them inside – Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin. When they wondered how they could not enter, they looked closely, they realized he was not alone; behind him stood the great ideology of Periyar, Anna and Kalaignar. So, they could not enter directly. Then they looked for a Tamil Nadu man – a gullible fool from the same race, group as Stalin – whose shoulders they could ride on, and that man was Edappadi Palaniswami. They could not enter inside so they climbed on to Edappadi Palaniswami’s shoulders and try to enter saying we are also like you. This election is not just for this constituency alone; it is an election for Tamil Nadu itself. the day Stalin released the manifesto, we could have declared him as CM. But only if we cross 200 seats, Modi and Amit Shah will get scared and decide not to amend the Constitution and realise that until the time there is a leader like Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin, they must realise the feeling that they cannot do anything. If Stalin must return as Chief Minister with 200 seats, and if India, the Constitution and the nation are to be protected, then our Krishnasamy must be voted for on the Rising Sun symbol and sent to Parliament.”
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