BJP warns DMK 'Don't play with fire' after TN CM says "Will use Union govt, not Centre'

Lashing out at the DMK for using ‘Ondriya Arasu’ (Union govt) instead of 'Mathiya Arasu' (Central govt), BJP Vice-president K Annamalai on Saturday, warned DMK to not 'play with fire' by altering words. In a series of tweets recollecting the integration of Indian states into one nation, he reminded CM MK Stalin that the state 'Tamil Nadu' itself came into existence after 1967 from the Madras Province. Praying DMK to not a new history for the state, he asked why DMK has now changed the terminology while using it in their previous governments from 2006-11 when UPA was in power (2004-2014)

BJP warns DMK: "Don't play with fire"

"Let the new govt not play with fire by playing with words. When the word central govt was mentioned in their previous DMK’s rule (2006-11) & when they were in power in the central government from 2004 to 2014 as part of UPA, why do they have to resort to the word ‘Ondriya’ now. Is it because they are hollow in their developmental agenda or to hide their inefficiency in controlling the 2nd wave of COVID or the very poor vaccination in the state?. I’ll leave you to ponder & to find the reason behind their new drama," tweeted Annamalai.

'Using Union government not a social evil': Tamil Nadu CM Stalin

On Wednesday, in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin asserted that the state government would refer to the Centre as the 'Union Government' and not as 'central government'. Claiming that it wasn't a 'social crime' to refer to the Centre as the 'Union government', he justified it stating 'India shall be a union of states' was present in the first line of the Constitution. Pointing out that the union of states is what led to the formation of the Union government, the Tamil Nadu CM highlighted that the DMK had identified India as the 'Indian Union' in its election manifesto in the year 1957 and stated that the party had continued to do so since then.

Quoting the speech of CN Annadurai from January 25, 1963, CM Stalin said that political sovereignty was upheld by the people, as per the Constitution and that legal sovereignty was divided between the federal union and its constituents. He also cited Rajaji on 'discarding excessive interference from the Centre' and 'Samashti' - the word coined by poet Ma Po Si to note that there was no harm in using 'Union government' and that they would continue to do so. DMK has often opposed the BJP-led Central govt over most policies, alleging Hindi imposition on Tamil Nadu.