TRICHY: NTK chief coordinator Seeman on Thursday accused Union home minister Amit Shah of indulging in diversionary tactics by making remarks about B R Ambedkar.
“His (Amit Shah’s) observations about Ambedkar were orchestrated to deflect public attention from pressing issues,” Seeman told the reporters in Trichy.
Late Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi also had made assertions about Ambedkar, Seeman said.
The NTK chief said an opposition candidate, who invoked the name of Ambedkar, won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Ayodhya. “You (BJP) contested elections using the name of God, but it was Ambedkar’s name that secured victory there. The person who was invoking Ambedkar prevailed in Ayodhya. Who is influential?”
He justified calling S A Basha, the mastermind of the 1998 Coimbatore bomb serial blasts, as ‘Appa’ in his condolence message on the latter’s demise. Basha died a private hospital in Coimbatore on Monday while on parole.
“The RSS and the BJP possess no other agenda than speaking against Muslims. I would call him Appa. I was with him in prison for 50 days. What is contentious about it?” he said.
“TVK president and actor Vijay’s assertion of helping people in distress being a ritual is incorrect. In fact, it is a duty and social responsibility,” said Seeman.
Regarding the One Nation, One Election Bill tabled in parliament, Seeman said Congress had initially proposed it and former chief minister Karunanidhi had endorsed it then. “Accepting the concept of ‘one nation, one election’ would amount to betrayal,” he said.
Seeman criticised Tamil Nadu governor R N Ravi for suggesting nullification of the search committee for vice-chancellor for Annamalai University. “The governor appears determined to wrest power from the state government, which is undemocratic,” he said.
Concerning the recent visit of Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake to India, Seeman said the Sri Lankan government detained fishermen solely because they were from Tamil Nadu. “If Tamil Nadu fishermen are detained, the Centre remains passive,” he said.
Seeman announced that his party would contest in the byelection to the Erode East constituency which is necessitated by the death of Congress MLA EVKS Elangovan last week. The Election Commission is yet to announce the byelection date.
