Irani terms Congress-DMK alliance as unholy, brings up 2G scam

Union Minister Smriti Irani on Friday described the Congress-Dravida Munetra Kazhagam alliance for the May 16 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu as an "unholy" one while bringing up the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

"When we look at the unholy Congress-DMK alliance what we find is when people of this country speak about Congress and DMK alliance, the only memory we have is that of 2G scam which horrified the entire nation," Irani said at an election rally, canvassing for state Bharatiya Janata Party president Tamilisai Soundararajan in Chennai.

Soundararajan is contesting from Virugambakkam constituency in Chennai. "When we look at the alliance of Congress and DMK, you find that they did corruption not only 2G, but they did not spare even helicopter procurement for the nation," she said.

Ridiculing the DMK for not yet identifying M Karunanidhi's successor, Irani said, "In their hands they have taken the rising sun as the party symbol. But when you ask the people of Tamil Nadu which son rises (after Karunanidhi), they will tell you that till now, even within the DMK, a decision has not been taken on who shall rise and who shall be left behind."

The Union minster said people should ponder over whether it was Tamil Nadu's destiny to be "hijacked" by the interest of one family.

On the freebies given by the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam, Irani, without naming the party, said one has to ask why this political party has not strengthened the citizens economically.

"On the one hand we have one party (AIADMK) which makes promises, distributes things... you need to ask yourself why this political party has not strengthened citizens economically, so that they themselves can look after their needs."

Making a reference to the works of great poets Subramania Bharati and Thiruvalluvar, she said for the first time in the nation's history, it was under Narendra Modi's leadership

through the HRD ministry that "we have recognised the contribution and the richness of Thirukkural (treatise) and we got it to the rest of the country through our school systems and universities".