India has more than just Hindi-speaking states, no region can be ignored, says DMK chief MK Stalin after wins in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: DMK president MK Stalin on Saturday said no single state can be ignored by the government at the Centre and asserted that India did not have Hindi-speaking states alone. Buoyed by his party’s performance in the Lok Sabha election, the Dravidian party chief for the first time said his party would take the initiative to oppose the BJP, albeit without naming it explicitly, in other states by working with outfits in those regions. “The DMK will take constructive measures to replicate the Tamil Nadu model (of propping up secularism and DMK’s victory in polls) in other states as well by coordinating with forces committed to communal harmony,” he said in an open letter to party cadres. On a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected leader of the NDA, Stalin said this was the time to support and embrace people of all identities, states, adding “the days that Hindi speaking states alone was India has vanished.” The future was all about “constructive politics that centred around the states,” the DMK chief said. [caption id=“attachment_5120861” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of DMK chief MK Stalin. PTI[/caption] “No single state can be ignored, whichever party took over reins of power at the Centre,” Stalin asserted. The DMK’s voice will reverberate in Parliament and state Assembly to protect the people’s interests, he said. The DMK won 23 seats and the front (Secular Progressive Alliance) it leads won 37 of the 38 seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in Puducherry (Congress), as well. DMK will continue its “journey of victory,” to protect people’s interests, he said. The historic win of his party-led front in the Lok Sabha polls showed the “secular approach”, of the people which was nurtured by Dravidian stalwarts including reformist leader Periyar EV Ramasamy. The people’s verdict in Tamil Nadu showed that Dravidian movement — a reference to the DMK and a pointer to the Dravidian ideology which includes secularism and social justice — can never be decimated, he said. WIth regard to the AIADMK’s jibe that despite good showing in the polls, DMK’s goal has not been realised, he said it was a “reflection of the frustration of the ruling party and political rivals”. The DMK had vowed to return to power in the state by winning the bypolls to all the 22 Assembly seats and strongly pitched for a government led by Congress president Rahul Gandhi at the Centre. Apart from emerging as the third biggest party in the Lok Sabha, the DMK has wrested 12 seats from the AIADMK pushing its total strength in the Assembly to 101, Stalin said. The DMK retained Tiruvarur in the by-elections and totally won 13 constituencies in the Assembly bypolls while the ruling AIADMK won 9 segments warding off the probability of threat to its government. The AIADMK’s strength has now risen to 123 while 118 members are enough for a simple majority in the 234-member House. Stalin credited the DMK’s victory to party workers and support of allies including the Congress.