Accusing the BJP-led central government of attacking the voice, culture and institutions of Tamil Nadu and India, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said everyone in the country would get together to defeat the rightwing party in the next Lok Sabha polls.
Speaking at a ceremony to unveil a statute of the late DMK leader M. Karunanidhi here, Mr. Gandhi said while the late leader defended the voice of Tamil Nadu and institutions of the State and country, the BJP government was attacking them.
“We have a government that believes that only one idea should rule India and believes that billions of voices should not count for anything. We have a government that does not respect different languages and cultures of the country,” he said while recalling his meetings with Karunanidhi.
Mr Gandhi said when he visited Karunanidhi’s house it did not have any features of a leader who had spent decades in politics and power. “I saw simplicity, honesty and humility,” he said, adding that the DMK leader had showed him the way forward.
“I want to tell the people of Tamil Nadu that in memory of Karunanidhi and to have respect for your culture and tradition, everybody in India is going to get together and all voices are going to get together to defeat the BJP in the next elections,” he declared.
Reiterating that the destruction of the idea of India and its institutions — the Supreme Court, Election Commission and RBI — he said, “we are going to stand together to do this.”
Mr Gandhi also thanked the Tamils for giving the direction to the country for showing the way of looking at the world and for strengthening the idea of India.
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who unveiled the statue made a strong case for the DMK and Congress working together.
“It is my earnest desire that the mutual support of our parties must remain strong and steadfast as when Karunanidhi was guiding us wage a battle together with the political forces that are determined to destroy the constitutional values, institutions and the idea of India,” she said.
“As we stand together shoulder to shoulder in memory of Karunanidhi let the message go to the people of Tamil Nadu and the country that we are united and determined to protect and preserve our country’s constitution and values that were built and sustained over the last 70 years,” she further said.
Describing Karunanidhi as one of the greatest men of modern India, she said for sixty years the history and future of Tamil Nadu.
Earlier, Ms Sonia Gandhi, Mr Rahul Gandhi and other leaders visited the mausoleum of Karunanidhi at the Marina and paid homage.
