Reign of dravidian parties will end soon, says Shah

CHENNAI: If capturing the hearts of Tamil Nadu's electorate demands learning Tamil, BJP president Amit Shah is game for it. At his first public rally in the state, Shah apologized for not being able to speak the local language. "But I have started learning Tamil and will soon speak to you in Tamil," he said, signalling BJP's agenda to strengthen its base in the state ahead of the 2016 assembly elections.

Speaking in Hindi at Maraimalai Nagar, on the outskirts of Chennai, he called upon party cadres to work hard to make BJP the number one party as "the reign of DMK and AIADMK was set to end". The BJP government at the Centre would ensure that Tamils, both in India and Sri Lanka, are secure and live with dignity, he said.

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He was careful not to launch a direct attack on AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, perhaps keeping in mind political exigencies. With a thin presence in the Upper House, BJP requires the support of 11 AIADMK members.

Chennai visit aimed at enthusing BJP cadres

Spelling out BJP's strategy for Tamil Nadu, Shah appealed to party cadres to fan out as ambassadors of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to all corners of the state and enroll 60 lakh members - 100 per every polling booth. Once that is achieved, no political party could stop BJP from taking the reins of the state, he said.

After sealing BJP's wins in Haryana and Maharashtra, Shah is now focusing on TamiI Nadu and Kerala which are going to polls in 2016. His two-day visit is primarily aimed at motivating cadres and giving a thrust to the ongoing membership drive.

Shah made a frontal attack on both Congress and DMK over the series of scams, including the 2G scam, during the UPA regime. "Congress and DMK have to answer the people of the country about scams amounting to Rs 12 lakh crore witnessed during the UPA regime," he said.



Fuel prices were only shooting up during the UPA rule, but within six months of Modi assuming office as PM, the prices were brought down 10 times, he said addressing a well-attended public meeting. Tamil music director Gangai Amaran joined BJP in Shah's presence besides actor Gayatri Raghuraman and some Youth Congress and AIADMK members. In a spirited attack on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, he asked him to remove his "Italian glasses" to appreciate the achievements of the Modi government in the past six months. "I ask him what the UPA regime did in the last 10 years apart from a series of scams," he said. Earlier, he arrived to a tumultuous welcome from party cadres and supporters at the airport.

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