In his first speech as the newly elected president of the DMK, M.K. Stalin on Tuesday called on party activists to unite and teach the Narendra Modi government and the AIADMK dispensation in Tamil Nadu a “lesson”.
Stalin declared that he would uphold the DMK's creed of self-respect, social justice, rationalism and secularism. Stalin claimed the Modi government was using “education, art, literature and religion to spread communal hatred”.
He also accused the Modi government of destabilising the judiciary. Stalin accused the ruling AIADMK of abandoning schemes introduced by Annadurai and his late father M. Karunanidhi.
Earlier on Tuesday, Stalin was elected unopposed to the post of party president, with party general secretary K. Anbazhagan saying Stalin was the sole candidate to file nomination papers for the post.
Chants of Thalapathy (commander), in praise of Stalin, went up at the Kalaignar Arangam in Chennai where the DMK's general council meeting was held.
On Monday, the BJP had announced party chief Amit Shah would not be attending a memorial meeting for Karunanidhi scheduled for August 30. Instead, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and party general secretary Murlidhar Rao would be attending on behalf of the BJP.
Initial reports of Shah attending the event had sparked speculation that the BJP could attempt to cosy up to the DMK before the next Lok Sabha elections. The DMK, during Stalin's time as working president since 2017, has been very critical of the BJP, including on the Cauvery issue and the controversy over the NEET examination.
(With PTI inputs)