Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris is one of the constituencies that the BJP is expecting to win in the southern part of Tamil Nadu. The battle is between BJP’s L Murugan and DMK’s A Raja. In an exclusive interview with Organiser Special Correspondent Nishant Kumar Azad and Sub-editor Yatharth Sikka in Nilgiris on April 16, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairy L Murugan said that Dravidian parties, through fake narratives, isolate the people of Tamil Nadu in the name language, culture, & pseudo-history to perpetuate their misrule & corruption; People are tired of this status-quo. Excerpts:
BJP seems to have a formidable presence in Tamil Nadu now. How are the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 going to be different from 2019?
We can’t really compare 2019 with 2024 for three simple reasons. In 2019, we had an alliance with the then ruling party AIADMK. And it was their misrule, corruption, and misgovernance that backfired and also negatively affected BJP. Secondly, in 2024 we formed an alliance with the parties who have a good track record among the Tamil people. Most crucially, today, the deliverances of the Modi Government have reached every household in the state; and every section of society has benefited. That has made our position strong, and we are backing up the hard work of the Union Government in the state by ensuring a build-up of the party from strength to strength.
In 2019, BJP had a vote share of 3.6 per cent. In 2014, is your preparedness only limited to increasing your vote share or are you eyeing for constituencies too?
We can’t separate vote shares from winning seats in our democracy. Earlier, despite a lesser vote share, the BJP has won seats in the state. This time we are very motivated to do better on all the seats, and we are sure to make it a landslide victory in the state.
DMK claims that Tamil Nadu is a battle between the two Dravidian parties, and BJP is nowhere in the race. How do you react to it?
Dravidian parties always isolate the people of Tamil Nadu in the name of language, culture, and pseudohistory while confining the people to misrule and corruption. They do not realise that their repetitive and fake narratives can’t continue now, and people are tired of this status quo. Tamilians want change, and they are ready to give BJP a chance this time. We will see how the mandate will burst the loud claims of DMK on June 4.
You have released a separate manifesto for Nilgiris. If elected, what are the issues you will be focusing on?
Nilgiris are a special but somewhat complicated constituency. There are hills, and then there are plains. The issues facing people are different. We have to accommodate everyone’s aspirations and resolve their issues. There are issues of Minimum Support Price to be given to the green tea, there is an issue of ‘Section 17 lands’ in Gudalur and Pandalur, Athikadavu–Avinashi project, and much more. Moreover, we want to develop Ooty as an international tourism hub by incorporating sustainable development goals. We want to make it a favourable destination for the entertainment industry, with shooting as the focus. We want to also develop the city as an IT hub. But all this will be done by safeguarding the natural environment and ecosystem. Development has to be sustainable. DMK has left the constituency backward. Even today, despite the extensive rural electrification schemes of the Modi Govt, due to DMK’s negligence of Nilgiris, more than 20,000 people are without electricity.
Nilgiris saw multiple protests against Stalin’s Anti-Sanatana remarks. How do you see this consistent attack on Sanatana Dharma?
DMK always wants to divide people. Their politics is one of division and not of unity and integrity. Sanatana is one of the bedrocks of Indian nationhood and a force of national integration. PM Modi made it a new mantra of unity. DMK still lives in the 1960s mindset, and they have closed themselves to the changing realities. They have failed to tap into the mood of the people.
Your rival A Raja has made Anti-India and Anti-Hindu statements, exclaiming that Bharat is not a nation. He even made derogatory remarks against Shri Ram. What is the DMK’s strategy behind this?
The DMK Government has miserably failed in all aspects of governance. It is a historical fact that they have never understood the forces of integration of this nation. They have always devised some division of caste, language, and now they are doing it based on religion. They are also making these provocative statements to shift focus from their misrule and failure. A Raja whose name became synonymous with the infamous 2G scam cannot go to the people with an account of his development work because there are none. This time the people of Nilgiris will teach him a lesson.
Are the Anti-Hindu statements also a result of the growing influence of Christianity in the state?
Maybe. That could be the reason. DMK always propagated false history among the people of Tamil Nadu. They accused Hindu religion in every nook and corner, but never said any words against other religions. They have taken the appeasement politics to its worst form.
Multiple cases of forced conversion have come to light in the state. How do you see this?
Article 25 to 28 of Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion to all the citizens. But few groups and forces are continually cheating, intimidating, threatening, and deceiving people through gifts and forcing them to convert to other religions. In 2022, in the Ashwini Updhayaya filed PIL, the Supreme court instructed and gave direction to the Central and State Government to take strict action against this type of forced religious conversion.
The SC/ST and poor people are the main target of this forced conversion by the fringe groups. They really want to destroy the bedrock of Bharat which is pluralism and acceptance for all. There are consistent efforts to divide North and South. DMK leaders have used derogatory remarks against the people of UP and Bihar multiple times.
It is the opportunistic politics of DMK and nothing else. When they were in power in Delhi as partners of UPA, everything was fine and the South was shining. Now, how come everything has gone wrong. What is this narrow tendency that you protest when certain states where economic development is slow is being aided by the Union Government? Are the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar not our brothers and sisters? If PM Modi is determined to do his best for the development of the economically backward states, people of Tamil Nadu and all the states of South India are with him. We are not plagued by a narrow self-interest like DMK. We think about the national interest.
Final question, will the Lotus bloom in Tamil Nadu in 2024?
Certainly, yes. The people of Tamil Nadu have decided to stand with PM Narendra Modi. The mandate will be for 10 years of good governance of Modi Govt and against the misrule of DMK. The Lotus will bloom to make India the ‘Viksit Bharat’.
