- Thursday, May 16, 2024
The southern state’s governing party DMK is a member of the opposition alliance that aims to deny the Indian PM his third straight term in power.
By: Shubham Ghosh
A MASSIVE row has erupted in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu after an advertisement for a new spaceport of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on its soil featured a rocket with a flag of China, India’s northern neighbour with which it has a far-from-rosy relation. It also happened at a time when prime minister Narendra Modi is on a visit to the state.
While reports said that the advertisement was commissioned by Tamil Nadu’s fisheries and animal husbandry minister Anitha Radhakrishnan, he was not available for comment, Kanimozhi, a parliamentarian of the state’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), came to its defence saying she did not where the design in the poster originated and reasoned that India did not declare China as an ‘enemy country’.
She also recalled the visit by Chinese president Xi Jinping to Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu in 2019 where he met prime minister Narendra Modi.
Read: Modi reacts to Tamil Nadu minister’s ‘Sanatan Dharma’ remarks: ‘Needs proper response’
Kanimozi’s own picture features in the poster along with the faces of Modi; MK Stalin, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu and her brother; and Udhayanidhi Stalin, the state’s youth welfare and sports minister.
This advertisement by DMK Minister Thiru Anita Radhakrishnan to leading Tamil dailies today is a manifestation of DMK’s commitment to China & their total disregard for our country’s sovereignty.
DMK, a party flighing high on corruption, has been desperate to paste stickers ever… pic.twitter.com/g6CeTzd9TZ
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) February 28, 2024
The 56-year-old MP, who represents the Thoothukkudi constituency where the new spaceport is set to come up, told news agency Asian News International, “I don’t know from where the person who did the artwork, found this picture from. I don’t think India has declared China as an enemy country. I have seen that the Prime Minister has invited the Chinese PM and they have gone to Mahabalipuram. Just because you do not want to accept the truth, you are finding reasons to divert the issue.”
Read: Blow for Modi in south India as Tamil Nadu’s AIADMK calls off alliance with BJP
The advertisement was meant to celebrate the foundation stone laid by for the new spaceport by Modi at Kulasekarapattinam in Thoothukkudi district of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday and highlight the efforts made by former Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK stalwart M Karunanidhi and Stalin in making the project a reality. The facility worth Rs 986 crore is expected to accommodate 24 launches a year.
But the picture of a computer-generated rocket covered with the Chinese national flag saw Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party lashing out at the ruling DMK, which is a member of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance that aims to challenge Modi and the BJP in this year’s general elections.
Modi himself also slammed the DMK, accusing it of hijacking projects of the federal government and claiming credit for them.
“DMK is such a party which doesn’t do any work but goes ahead to take false credit. Who doesn’t know that these people put their stickers on our schemes? Now they have crossed the limit, they have pasted stickers of China to take credit for the Isro launch pad in Tamil Nadu,” the prime minister said at a public rally in Tirunelveli.
“They are not ready to see the progress of India’s space and with the taxes that you pay, they give advertisements and do not even include a picture of India’s space in it,” he added.
K Annamalai, president of the BJP’s Tamil Nadu chapter, also condemned the advertisement, which was released in local newspapers, and accused the state’s ruling party of showing a disregard for the country’s sovereignty.
“This advertisement… is a manifestation of DMK’s commitment to China. DMK, a party flying high on corruption, has been desperate to paste stickers ever since the announcement of ISRO’s second launch pad… The amount of desperation only proves their attempt to bury their past misdeeds,” he said in a post on X.
He also delved into history, saying Tamil Nadu’s bid to host the space agency’s first launch pad six decades ago failed due to inefficiency.
“When the 1st launch pad of ISRO was conceptualized, Tamil Nadu was the first choice of ISRO… However, DMK’s handling of the matter was disappointing. Then CM Thiru Annadurai’s delegate to the meeting arrived in an inebriated state, showcasing a lack of seriousness towards our country’s space program,” the BJP leader alleged.
“DMK hasn’t changed much & has only become worse!” he said.
