DMK chief M Karunanidhi has expressed the hope that voters in Tamil Nadu would throw in their lot with the DMK, which had stood by them at all times, good and bad, if they wanted to ensure the well-being of future generations of Tamils.
Making an emotional pitch at an election meeting here late on Saturday night, the DMK patriarch said this may be the last election he was campaigning in but hastened to say, in response to a chorus of protests, that he would live for another 50 years if the people assured him that they would not subject themselves as slaves before anybody.
The DMK President, who was addressing a meeting in support of the party’s candidates in the three Lok Sabha constituencies of Coimbatore, Pollachi and the Nilgiris, said the time had come to get the feeling that “we are all Tamils”.
He said if the Tamil people were vigilant and protected their heritage and culture, the impression that anybody could gatecrash into Tamil Nadu with the intention of establishing their rule “would not occur to the Modis”, he said in an obvious reference to the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate. He said the entire Tamil race should raise the “war cry” if the ambitions of the Tamil people were to be realised.
On the recent electioneering by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at Coimbatore, Karunanidhi said her speeches sought to put a positive spin on her governance. But the details of the wealth allegedly accumulated by the Chief Minister, as revealed by the public prosecutor before the Special Court trying the disproportionate asset case against her at Bangalore, would show “what sort of Chief Minister we have got”, he said.
Karunanidhi said if the people were willing to be gullible and turned a blind eye to the activities of the Chief Minister, then they should not vote for his alliance, but for the AIADMK so that the State would turn into a “barren land” ( pottalkaadu in Tamil). Otherwise, they should vote for the DMK, which has stood by the people in good and bad times alike.
He said if the people chose to ignore his advice, then he had no other option but to “curse” them that they should be prepared to endure what awaits them. But he was confident that the people would not incur his wrath since they would be keen to ensure the well-being of future generations of Tamils.
The DMK chief’s speech was largely focused on the role of the DMK as the defender of the rights of the Tamil people. While he did make a reference to Jayalalithaa and Modi, the latter rather indirectly, he did not touch upon key issues such as the power cuts, industrial slowdown and neglect of the infrastructural needs of the region by successive Governments. Nor did he indicate at the meeting the post-election strategy of the DMK or whether it would be ready to align with the Congress if it expresses regret and reassures his party of its secular credentials, as he had stated recently.