DMK President MK Stalin Pitches For Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi as PM Candidate, Opposition Attacks Centre

Chennai, December 16: DMK president M K Stalin on Sunday made a strong pitch for Congress president Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of the Opposition for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, saying the Gandhi scion had the ability to defeat the “fascist” Narendra Modi government. However, the TMC quickly added that the name of PM nominee for the Opposition would be declared only after the 2019 general elections. DMK Patriarch M Karunanidhi Statue Unveiled by Sonia Gandhi in Chennai, Opposition Leaders Unite For Show of Strength.

In a show of strength for the Opposition, at the unveiling of Kalaignar  Karunanidhi statue in Chennai by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, several Opposition leaders attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over a range of issues.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, speaking at the occasion, accused the Central government of using agencies like Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax (IT) department and CBI are being used to "victimise politicians."

The Andhra CM cited the government's affidavit in the SC, requesting correction in the judgment on Saturday. "Yesterday you saw Rafale case in Supreme Court. Even for SC, this government has filed wrong affidavit. Governors are misusing powers in Goa, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka & other states," said Naidu. The BJP government "destroyed all institutions and federalism" thundered Naidu and blamed Central government for RBI Governor Urjit Patel's resignation.

Rahul Gandhi used the occasion to target the BJP government and said that "while Karunanidhi Ji defended institutions of this country, today we've a govt that is attacking voice,culture,institutions of Tamil Nadu and our country. In memory of Karunanidhi Ji, all voices in India are going to get together and defeat BJP in next election(sic)."

Gandhi further said in Chennai that "We aren't going to allow the destruction of the idea of India, the destructions of our institutions, the Supreme Court, the RBI, the EC. And we are going to stand together and do this (defeat BJP)," reported news agency ANI.

Sonia Gandhi also spoke at the rally and said that it is her "desire that mutual support of our parties to each other remain strong as we wage together a battle with political forces that are determined to destroy our constitutional values and the idea of India as we know it."

However, D Raja of the CPI, speaking on Rahul Gandhi being named as the PM nominee of the Opposition, said that "DMK President has proposed Rahul Gandhi should become the Prime Minister. All the other parties, particularly secular democratic parties, left parties will have to give consideration and deliberate on this issue. Let us see in the coming days how things are going to end."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 16, 2018 10:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).