Stalin ups anti-BJP ante, asks Opposition parties to bury differences for united front

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, who has working to stitch together a united front against the BJP government at the Centre, upped the ante with his latest speech.

At a public meeting in Chennai on Wednesday (June 7) that was organised as a part of the birth centenary celebrations of his late father and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, Stalin made a fervent plea to non-BJP parties across India to forget their differences and to unite in order to defeat the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. All democratic forces should unite to defeat the “communal, fascist forces” next year, he said.

The DMK chief has been at the forefront of the Opposition parties’ efforts to present a united front against the BJP at the centre. Ever since taking over Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in May 2021, Stalin has been a vociferous defender of the federal rights of state governments. In recent months, he has also been reaching out to chief ministers of other non-BJP ruled states to bring them together. His Bihar and Telangana counterpart, Nitish Kumar and K Chandrashekar Rao, have also been taking similar steps.

While addressing the meeting in Chennai yesterday, Stalin reminded the parties that the BJP would go to any extent to win next year’s crucial elections, and would do it best to exploit the differences among their opponents. He said they should not fall prey to this strategy.

Also read: DMK will take wholehearted efforts to coordinate Opposition: TN CM Stalin

The DMK leader’s appeal comes at a time when it seems there are differences coming up between the leaders of various national political parties. An opposition meeting that had been scheduled for June 12 in Bihar has been postponed to June 23 presumably because some of the leaders said they would not be available.

2024 elections ‘crucial’

Stalin said the 2024 Lok Sabha elections would be crucial for the country to safeguard the democratic ethos and federalism, and that it was more about who should be kept out of power than who should come to power.

The chief minister continued his tirade against the TN Governor RN Ravi also, and said the BJP would indulge in false propaganda and there was always a group to blindly carry out whatever the BJP said, referring to the actions of the governor.

Also read: Tamil Nadu FM slams Governor Ravi for remark on Stalin’s foreign trip

He claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu were with the DMK and would defeat the non-democratic forces.

The leaders who spoke at the public meeting were effusive in their praise of the DMK patriarch Karunanidhi, and equally appreciated Chief Minister Stalin for his successful efforts in continuing the legacy of his late father.