“I welcome the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s plans to name a Tamil person as its prime ministerial candidate,” Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said in Salem on Monday, June 12. His comments were in response to reports that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said in a closed-door meeting with BJP functionaries on Sunday that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had hindered two Tamils from becoming Prime Ministers in the past, indicating that there was a chance for a Tamil person to be named BJP’s PM candidate.
“I wonder if Amit Shah is angry with PM Narendra Modi as he (Shah) said that there was a chance for a Tamilian to become the PM candidate. If the BJP wants to name a Tamil person as its PM candidate for the upcoming general elections, either Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan or Union Minister of State L Murugan may get a chance," Stalin said.
After opening the sluice gates of Mettur dam for irrigation in the Cauvery Delta Zone, Stalin slammed the BJP-led Union government saying that Tamil Nadu had received no special schemes in the past nine years — as it did under the previous UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government — while responding to Shah’s claims on granting special projects to the state. “During the DMK party meeting in Salem, I clearly noted that no special schemes have been implemented in the last nine years of BJP rule. I have already listed down a number of special schemes and projects the state received during the UPA rule of which DMK was a part. I do not know whether Amit Shah did not read it, or no one explained it to him,” he added.
While listing down the projects Tamil Nadu received under the UPA government, Stalin had mentioned the Chennai Metro Rail Project, the ‘classical’ language status to Tamil (declared in 2004), the proposed Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project, and the Salem railway division, among others. He also alleged that Tamil Nadu has been receiving poor funding from the Union government despite being one of the highest GST-paying states in the country. Speaking about the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Madurai announced by the BJP-led Union government in 2015, Stalin claimed that there was no real need for AIIMS at that time in the state.