New Delhi: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Stalin on Friday made it clear that DMK will not align with the ruling BJP in the upcoming general elections.
Stalin also slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying it was an irony that the PM Modi compared himself with former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“DMK will never align with BJP, and Modi is not Vajpayee. Alliance under him is not a healthy alliance. It is an irony that PM Modi compares himself with Vajpayee,” Stalin was quoted by the newswire ANI.
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The remark by the DMK chief comes a day after Prime Minister Modi reached out to the parties in Tamil Nadu, saying that the BJP was open to an alliance with parties based in the southern state and that he cherished “old friends”.
Addressing BJP’s booth-level workers in Tamil Nadu through video conferencing, the Prime Minister referred to “successful coalition politics” during the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister of the country.
The Prime Minister said, “Twenty years ago the visionary leader Atal ji brought in a new culture in Indian politics, that of successful coalition politics. He gave utmost importance to regional aspirations… BJP has followed the way Atal ji has shown us.”
He said the same in response to a question by a BJP worker on whether the party would get into an alliance with the DMK, the AIADMK or actor Rajinikanth, who is yet to announce his political party.