Published 19:38 IST, August 14th 2019
BJP backs Rajinikanth amid attack by Karti Chidambaram, asks, 'If Congress accepts history, how will it play politics?'
After Congress MP Karti Chidambaram lashed out against superstar-turned-politician Rajnikanth for his praise of centre’s move to abrogate article 370 in Kashmir, Tamilnadu state unit of BJP has thrown its weight behind Rajni.
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After Congress MP Karti Chidambaram lashed out against actor Rajinikanth for his praise of Centre’s move to abrogate article 370 in Kashmir, Tamil Nadu state unit of BJP has thrown its weight behind Rajni.
BJP Tamil Nadu president Tamilisai Soundarajan has said that the Congress and other opposition parties are worried that Rajinikanth is supporting the move of PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and that when a person of Rajnikanth’s stature comes out in support of the centre’s move, people will believe it, making it difficult for the opposition to ‘cheat’ people.
Reacting to Karti Chidambaram’s barb asking Rajnikanth to read history of Kashmir before commenting, Soundarajan hit back saying ‘Let Karti Chidambaram read history first, Congressmen know what is the history, but they won't agree with the truth because they cannot do politics then. If the real history emerges, they will be completely exposed and that is the reason they are opposing it when parties like the Aam Aadmi Party too supported the move’.
The BJP maintains that the support to Rajnikanth who has immense popularity amongst the masses has rattled the opposition parties who are now attacking the superstar from their cornered positions.
The Congress party has come out in support of Karti Chidambaram, questioning Rajnikanth’s acclaim of home minister Amit Shah. The Tamil Nadu state president of the Indian National Congress KS Alagiri said, "Rajinikanth is a spiritual person. His comments on the Kashmir issue are shocking. I wonder if Rajinikanth has mistaken spirituality for religion’.
Disputing the centre’s move to scrap Article 370, Alagiri dared the NDA government to also apply similar standards in the north-east by abolishing special status given to states like Nagaland and Manipur, accusing Modi government of revoking article 370 selectively in Kashmir because ‘it's a Muslim dominated state’.
Contesting Rajnikath’s appreciation of Modi-Shah duo, Alagiri asked if Rajinikanth accepts that rules of justice are different in Kashmir and other states. ‘I wish Rajinikanth reread Mahabharata to understand that Amit Shah and Modi are Duryodana and Shakuni. How can they be Lord Krishna and Arjuna when they have snatched the rights of people?,’ he protested.
Like elsewhere in the country, the abrogation of article 370 has deeply polarised the polity of Tamilnadu with sharp reactions being voiced from all ends of the political and ideological spectrum.
17:23 IST, August 14th 2019