Sitharaman flays Rahul Gandhi for comparing PM with British, calls for 'self-awareness'

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday lashed out at former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his purported "uninformed and immature stance". During an interaction titled ‘Educators Meet’ in Tamil Nadu a day earlier, Gandhi promised to send PM Modi into political oblivion by following the path of love and non-violence. Claiming that PM Modi is way less formidable in comparison to the British, he predicted that the Congress party will send him back to Nagpur (RSS headquarters). 

The Wayanad MP said, “Who is Narendra Modi in comparison to the British empire? Nobody. People of this country sent the British empire back and in the same way we will send Narendra Modi back to Nagpur".

Taking umbrage at these remarks, Sitharaman stressed that ideological differences cannot descend into enmity. Maintaining that a democratically elected Indian PM cannot be compared to the British, she alleged that Congress is a dynastic party that has moved far away from the ideals that it stood for during the freedom struggle. Moreover, the BJP leader added that Mahatma Gandhi too did not want Congress to exist. 

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Tamil Nadu Assembly polls

In a significant political milestone in TN politics, AIADMK returned to power in 2016 for a successive term. In the 234-member Assembly, AIADMK won a whopping 135 seats in contrast to DMK whose candidates could win from 98 constituencies. However, the political scenario in the state witnessed a dramatic shift after the demise of Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi. Though CM E Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam cemented their leadership position within AIADMK over the last four years, Sasikala's release from jail and subsequent return to Tamil Nadu added a new dimension to the upcoming election.

While PMK has been allocated 23 seats as a part of the AIADMK-led alliance for the 2021 Assembly polls, BJP has sought to field candidates from 60 constituencies. DMK is perceived as the principal challenger to AIADMK as it swept 38 out of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 General Election. Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam is also in the poll fray. The polling for the Assembly election will be conducted on April 6 whereas the election results shall be declared on May 2. 

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