Patna: The 16-day-long ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar, steered by Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, has become a rallying point for leaders and parties of the Opposition’s INDIA Bloc, as they make a beeline to the poll-bound state to show support for the Mahagathbandhan’s 13,000 km march, through 20 key districts.
The move by the Congress-RJD may be a gameplan to amplify public awareness and appeal, but the BJP has been quick to term it ‘political opportunism’ ahead of elections.
A couple of BJP leaders, including its Tamil Nadu unit, raked up the DMK’s ‘anti-Bihar’ and ‘anti-Sanatan’ utterances and even dared the DMK supremo T.N. Stalin to repeat those disparaging remarks, when in Bihar.
BJP’s former chief in TN, K Annamalai, released a compilation of “uncouth remarks” made by DMK leaders and its alliance parties about the people of Bihar and North Indians.
Narayanan Tirupathi, BJP spokesperson in Tamil Nadu, issued a challenge to TN CM Stalin to repeat the insulting remarks made by his son Udhayanidhi and fellow party MPs like Dayanidhi Maran, who allegedly said in the past, “Biharis clean toilets in Tamil Nadu”.
“I challenge Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who is going to Bihar: If you have the courage, can you talk there about your son Udhayanidhi’s statement that ‘Sanatan Dharma must be destroyed’? Furthermore, can you boldly repeat the statement made by your relative and DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran that ‘Biharis clean toilets in Tamil Nadu’”, he said.
“Aren’t you the one who stands tall with principles? Aren’t you the lion of the Dravidian model of self-respect? Let’s see you say it!!,” he added.
The BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya also shared a compilation of DMK stalwarts hurling insulting remarks on Bihar, its residents as well as Sanatan Dharma and wondered how Tejashwi Yadav was rolling out the red carpet for such leaders.
“In his party, there is hardly any leader who has not insulted Bihar and Sanatan Dharma. Stalin himself has expressed deep hatred and animosity towards Bihar multiple times. Such statements are enough to boil the blood of every Bihari. But Tejashwi Yadav is rolling out the red carpet to welcome precisely these people,” Amit Malviya wrote on X.
Notably, TN CM Stalin is the latest leader from the Opposition bloc to join the Mahagathbandhan’s march.
A day ago, Telangana CM and his Cabinet ministers joined LoP Rahul Gandhi in Darbhanga district, throwing his weight behind the Congress MP’s campaign against ‘vote chori (vote theft)’.
Moments ago, CM Stalin also shared pictures of his ‘touchdown Bihar’ as well as snaps with LoP Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav and wrote, “The land of Lalu Prasad greets me with fire in its eyes, the soil heavy with every stolen vote.”
DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi is also scheduled to join the yatra, in the coming days.
(IANS)
