Coimbatore: Accusing the BJP of jailing AAP founder Arvind Kejriwal by filing false cases, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday alleged that the Union govt was attempting to replicate the `Delhi formula’ in Tamil Nadu to intimidate DMK.“We are neither slaves nor cowards to get intimidated by such threats,” Stalin said addressing the DMK’s west zone booth committee members meeting in Coimbatore. He said Kejriwal was falsely implicated by an investigation agency and sent to jail because the BJP was afraid to face elections in Delhi. The BJP was trying similar tactics in TN too, he said. “We will take on your threats with courage,” he said. Stalin asked if the party could `return the days’ spent in jail by the former Delhi chief minister and his party colleague Manish Sisodia because of the false case and whether BJP would be willing to conduct elections again in Delhi. It was because of DMK’s courage to take on BJP that several political parties were placing confidence in the DMK and joining its alliance. Stalin said that while alliances often shrink over successive elections, the DMK-led alliance has been expanding. “My objective is not to ensure DMK’s victory alone. I want to unite all the forces opposing the BJP and succeed together,” he said. While the DMK alliance was ideaologically united, the AIADMK front was opportunistic, Stalin said referring to the remarks of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami. “EPS said theirs was an electoral alliance. They would part ways after the election and continue their drama separately,” he said. Stalin charged that BJP was the “ringmaster’ of the opposition alliance and AIADMK `performed according to the ringmaster’s orders.‘ Stalin said the AIADMK allied with BJP not just to face the elections together, but also to protect themselves from cases. He accused Prime Minister NArendra Modi of praising late chief minister J Jayalalithaa for the sake of elections. “Did you forget Amit Shah’s allegation in the past that AIADMK govt was the most corrupt in the country?” he asked. “The appreciation for Jayalalithaa was to divert attention of public from the fact that Union budget had no announcements for TN,” he said. Turning to electoral preparedness, Stalin said booth agents had been assigned a target of 350 votes per booth, claiming that meeting the target would translate into more than 2.60 crore votes and help the alliance win over 200 seats. He urged cadres not to rest for the next two months, asking each functionary to meet every voter at least five times. Chief minister M K Stalin also visited the house of an eight year old girl in Coimbatore, whose organs were donated, after she suffered brain death. He paid floral tributes to the girl and consoled her father, a DMK councillors, and other family members.
