The BJP can't win in Tamil Nadu by showcasing Lord Murugan, says CPI State secretary Mutharasan
Speaking at the launch of the logo for the CPI's 26th State Conference, to be held in Salem from August 15 to 18, Mr. Mutharasan said a special seminar, Velga Jananayagam, Veelga Fascism, would take place on the evening of August 16. INDIA bloc leaders, including DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, are expected to take part in it.
CPI national secretary D. Raja and other senior leaders are to take part at the conference that will discuss national and international political developments and pass political resolutions.
Asked about BJP leaders claiming that parties in the DMK-led alliance would switch sides, Mr. Mutharasan said the DMK-led coalition was based on ideology and not on electoral considerations. 'The alliance has successfully contested in two Lok Sabha and other elections. It will remain a strong ideological front,' he said.
Criticising the BJP's recent strategies, he said, 'The BJP, which has failed to win over the Tamil Nadu electors on various issues, is now trying to capitalise on Lord Murugan. The conference of Lord Murugan devotees held in Madurai resembled a political event promoting Hindu unity and calling for the dissolution of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department.' He added that the BJP's religious appeals did not yield any result even in Ayodhya in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, suggesting that they were unlikely to succeed in Tamil Nadu either.
Mr. Mutharasan alleged that the Madurai conference disrespected iconic Dravidian leaders such as Periyar E.V. Ramasamy and C.N. Annadurai. He criticised AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami for extending his wishes to the event, claiming that the AIADMK's alliance with the BJP was due to 'political compulsion'.
As for seat-sharing with the DMK for the 2026 Assembly election, Mr. Mutharasan said such matters would be discussed at the appropriate time. 'Every party naturally wants more seats, but there is no issue within the DMK-led alliance. Chief Minister Stalin is administering the State excellently; he has even surpassed his father M. Karunanidhi. He is firm in his ideological stance, and all parties in the alliance appreciate his leadership,' he said.
Regarding the possibility of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) joining the DMK-led alliance, Mr. Mutharasan said it was up to Mr. Stalin, the alliance leader, to make such decisions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
35 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
77 lakh people made DMK members through Oraniyil Tamil Nadu initiative
CHENNAI: The DMK has enrolled over 77 lakh members across the state so far through the Oraniyil Tamil Nadu initiative. DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin launched this initiative on July 1 with a target of enrolling two crore members. A release said the DMK president has advised party functionaries and cadre to work harder and sincerely since public support for the state government continues to grow. Stalin also underscored the importance of explaining key welfare schemes like the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai, Pudhumai Penn, Vidiyal Payanam, breakfast scheme and Naan Mudhalvan, especially to women, students and farmers. The Udanpirappe Vaa initiative to meet party functionaries from all parts of the state has so far been held over 12 days. During this drive, the CM interacted with over 1,000 party administrators from branch, union, city, and area levels. Meanwhile, the Information Department released a jingle on social media introducing the Ungaludan Stalin scheme to be launched by the CM in Chidambaram on July 15.
New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
‘Padapooja' in schools: Practice is part of our culture, says Governor Rajendra Arlekar
However, Sivankutty refuted the governor's claims. 'Kerala doesn't have such a culture, and such practices will not go well here either,' he said, terming the practice cruel. 'It is saddening to see people in key positions like the governor making such remarks,' he said. 'I am not aware of any scripture in Indian culture which asks school students to wash the feet of BJP leaders,' the minister said, adding that such activity can be viewed as 'mental harassment' under Section 17(1) of the Right to Education Act. Condemning the practice, Govindan said that the RSS is trying to implement activities that were part of the old chaturvarnya system. The controversy was kicked off when photos and videos of children washing the feet of senior teachers as part of Guru Purnima celebrations surfaced from schools across the state. Sivankutty has asked the general education director to seek an explanation from the schools. The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has also taken a suo motu case on the issue, stating that all incidents in this category will fall under the same case.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Centre to focus on cyber preparedness of cities
The cyber attacks during 'Operation Sindoor' have brought the government's focus on cyber preparedness of Indian cities. The ministry of housing and urban affairs will hold a two-day brainstorming session with states next week in this regard, people aware of the matter told ET. The aim of the meeting will be to gauge whether cities are equipped to handle cyber attacks, how technological interventions and projects planned in 100 smart cities can help states in handling cyber terrorism, and whether the special purpose vehicles (SPVs) in cities could be repurposed to handle current urban governance and challenges, the people cited earlier said. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Building Automation Systems Software Cost Might Surprise you Automation Systems | Search Ads Undo Three key brainstorming sessions have been planned by the government on July 17 and 18. For the first time since the beginning of the third term of the BJP-led NDA government, a meeting of urban development ministers will be held by Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar on July 17 to gauge the progress of flagship missions, including Swachh Bharat Mission, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and AMRUT. The conference will focus on financing of urban governance projects, challenges facing the state governments in urban development, making cities garbage-free, transport services and water security for cities. According to the sources, the main focus will be 'Making Cities Cyber Secure' on the second day of the programme. Live Events 'This is an emergency of sorts facing our cities. We need to equip them to ward off cyber attacks. This part will be anchored by ministry of electronics and information and technology and the home ministry,' a senior official, who did not wish to be named, told ET. The Smart Cities Mission , which has been wrapped up formally by the government, had seen technological interventions in 100 cities. All smart cities had established hi-tech command and control centres and several urban governance functions are being coordinated through these centres. 'These are nerve centres of a city. They are susceptible to cyber attacks but can also be used as centres to handle cyber terrorism. This is what the Centre's focus is – to equip them to handle such attacks,' the official said. The Intelligence Bureau will be conducting a training programme on 'Threat Landscape for cities' to brief the smart cities on what threats they could face. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) will help cities understand what cyber measures they could take to protect their installations. The Indian Crime Coordination Centre will brief the cities on measures to undertake to arrest cyber attacks. Similarly, the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre will be involved in the training programme of smart cities, the official cited earlier said. The government will also help smart cities in repurposing special purpose vehicles (SPVs) established in all cities to spearhead the Smart Cities Mission. 'The mission period may have ended but the SPVs have gathered expertise in handling big infrastructure projects. This can be channelised into handling projects even now. SPVs need to be repurposed and this is what the cities will do,' said the official.
