Amit Shah takes dig at DMK-Congress' nepotism; terms Gandhis & Karunanidhis '3G & 4G'

Hitting out at the DMK-Congress alliance, Home Minster Amit Shah on Sunday, took a 'nepotistic' jibe at the Marans, Gandhis and the Karunanidhi family - calling them 2G, 3G and 4G respectively, while addressing a public meeting at Tamil Nadu's Viluppuram. Highlighting the 2G scam during the UPA era, he said that all the above families were involved in the scam. Shah has arrived in Chennai to hold seat-sharing talks with AIADMK for the upcoming Tamil Nadu polls. The 234-Tamil Nadu assembly goes to polls on April 6 and counting of votes will be done on May 2.

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Amit Shah: 'Congress-DMK has 2G,3G,4G

"Congress was involved in scam of Rs 12 lakh cr & DMK was in alliance with it at the time. All three -- 2G, 3G & 4G are present in Tamil Nadu. 2G means 2 generations of Maran family, 3G means 3 generations of Karunanidhi's family & 4G means 4 generations of Gandhi family. On one side, there's AIADMK & NDA thinking about welfare of the poor while DMK & Congress on the other end are corrupt & follow politics of divide & rule. Sonia ji is worried about making Rahul baba PM & Stalin is concerned about making Udhayanidhi the CM," said Home Minister Amit Shah. The BJP too has thrown itself into the poll campaign with PM Modi, J P Nadda and Amit Shah visiting the state multiple times.

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Seat sharing talks

While the BJP has demanded 40 seats to contest in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK has allotted 23 seats to smaller ally PMK. On the other hand, DMK has held seat-sharing talks with IUML, MNMK and is currently finalising seat-sharing with Congress amid Rahul Gandhi's multiple Tamil Nadu visits. It will also hold seat-sharing talks with VCK and MDMK. Meanwhile, Kamal Haasan's MNM has allied with AAP and All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi - forming a third front in Tamil Nadu.

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Tamil Nadu poll campaign

Setting 200+ seat target for the upcoming 2021 polls, DMK Chief M K Stalin has launched the "WeRejectADMK" campaign calling it "lack of governance" by the Palaniswami government and touching sensitive issues such as the NEET-related suicides, holding gram sabhas across the state. Holding gram Sabhas across Tamil Nadu, Stalin, his son Udhayanidhi and sister Kanimozhi have met people from all 234 constituencies to know the 10 years of the misrule of the ADMK Government and hear the people's sufferings. Congress too has bolstered DMK's efforts with Rahul Gandhi visiting the state thrice in the past 3 months - holding meeting with students, weavers, fishermen, farmers, MSME workers etc.

On the other side, the two warring factions in AIADMK - of Deputy CM O Pannerselvam (OPS) and CM E Palaniswamy (EPS), reconciled after the party named incumbent E Palaniswamy as its CM candidate and O Panneerselvam as the chief of the 11-member steering committee. With AIADMK announcing its state alliance with BJP, it has refuted any possibility of reconciling with Sasikala, who has now been released from jail and eyes her political return. In a bid to woo voters, EPS has announced a massive farm loan waiver, free COVID vaccines, Pongal gift and rescinded cases against Jallikattu protestors, t anti-CAA protestors, COVID lockdown violators and Kudankulam nuclear power plant protestors. 

Big Day in Tamil Nadu election campaigns: Amit Shah in Chennai for BJP-AIADMK seat-sharing