CHENNAI: PM Modi said Friday that the “countdown has begun” for the end of the DMK govt in TN and the time has come for a “double-engine” NDA govt. “Tamil Nadu is ready for change. It wants freedom from DMK rule. Tamil Nadu wants a BJP-led NDA govt,” Modi said at a rally at Mathuranthakam, near Chennai, launching the alliance’s campaign in the state. Touching upon the lamp-lighting issue in Thiruparankundram, Modi accused DMK of being hostile to Tamil culture. “DMK and its allies did not spare even the court in a bid to appease their vote bank,” he said. Modi said the current dispensation was a “CMC (corruption, mafia, crime) govt”. Sharing the stage with AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss, TMC president G K Vasan and other NDA allies, Modi said they had come together with a common resolve. “All of them are united to free Tamil Nadu from DMK’s rule and transform it into a developed, secure and corruption-free state,” he said.Modi said TN needed an NDA dispensation that would work in tandem with the Centre to accelerate development and attract investment. Modi invoked AIADMK stalwarts M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, praising the latter for initiatives taken to ensure women’s safety, and said NDA would carry forward that legacy. Targeting Congress, Modi said the NDA govt had allocated Rs 3 lakh crore to Tamil Nadu over the past 11 years, three times more than what UPA had provided. Modi said the NDA govt was working for the promotion of Tamil. “Tamil always had a huge impact on me,” he said adding that he had gifted the book “Thirukkural” to world leaders. The state assembly, meanwhile, “unanimously” adopted a resolution urging that the rural employment guarantee scheme continue to be named after Mahatma Gandhi.
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