Stalin slams PM Modi for comparing himself with Vajpayee, says DMK will not ally with BJP

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is open to alliances and cherishes old friends, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin categorically stated that there's no possibility of his party being part of the NDA ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Stalin pointed out that in the last four and a half years PM Modi led central government shunned the concepts of secularism, social justice, and equality.

Stalin said that it was ironic that PM Modi compares himself with former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "DMK will never align with BJP, and Modi is not Vajpayee. The alliance under him is not a healthy alliance. It is an irony that PM Modi compares himself with Vajpayee," the DMK chief said.

MK Stalin, DMK Chief: DMK will never align with BJP, and Modi is not Vajpayee. Alliance under him is not a healthy alliance. It is an irony that PM Modi compares himself with Vajpayee. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/ulYctBjkno

— ANI (@ANI) January 11, 2019

Earlier, PM Modi on Thursday said the BJP is open to alliances. "Twenty years ago, visionary leader Atalji brought in a new culture in Indian politics, that of successful coalition politics. He gave utmost importance to regional aspirations...BJP has followed the way Atalji has shown us," he had said while interacting with the booth-level workers from five districts in Tamil Nadu through video-conferencing.

The DMK was part of the NDA in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections and the BJP considered it a strong option in Tamil Nadu. The BJP had supported a memorial for DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi at Chennai's Marina Beach, which raised speculation. 

"What Atalji did was in direct contrast to the Congress which has never cared for regional aspirations. Congress ill-treated regional political parties, aspirations, and people because they felt they alone have the right to be in power," he had said when asked about the possibility of an alliance with the AIADMK, DMK or Rajinikanth, who is yet to form his political party.