AIADMK slams claims of rift in alliance with BJP, blames DMK of ‘misinformation’

PTI, Jun 6, 2019, 3:51 PM IST

Chennai: The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on Thursday claimed that the efforts were being made to create a rift in its alliance with the BJP, but indicated that the two parties were ideologically inclined beyond mere friendship.

The party also claimed that “misinformation” was being spread about the Centre, trying to “impose a three-language formula” in the country, a reference to the state opposition parties’ stand against the imposition of Hindi.

The write-up comes amidst reports of differences between the two alliance partners post the Lok Sabha drubbing where the combine could win just the Theni Parliamentary seat. The write-up in the party organ slammed efforts by a section of “family-owned media”, an apparent reference to those of the DMK, to “create rift between the leaf and flower.” While the AIADMK’s symbol is the Two Leaves, that of the BJP is a Lotus.

The friendship between the high command of the two parties, beyond politics, was “unblemished”, it said. The AIADMK-BJP alliance winning the lone Theni Lok Sabha seat or the ruling party netting nine of the 22 Assembly seats where bypolls were held in April was a “public evaluation” of the combine, it added.

This evaluation was being “accepted wholeheartedly” to take efforts to ensure a better performance for the alliance in the future, it said. It also alleged that “misinformation” was being carried out, regarding the draft education policy of the Union HRD Ministry, that the Centre was trying to impose a three-language formula in the country.

“But people have started to see through their designs,” it said. The opposition in Tamil Nadu led by the DMK is up in arms against any “imposition” of Hindi in the state, an emotive issue that found great resonance with the citizens of the state in the 1960s, leading to the anti-Hindi agitation.

DMK leader MK Stalin and other opposition leaders in the state have claimed the Centre was trying to impose Hindi under the three-language formula and that it withdrew its decision following opposition from Tamils.