Kancheepuram (Tamil Nadu), Mar 30 (PTI) DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin kickstarted his Assembly poll campaign here on Monday and asserted that the election is a battle to drive out AIADMK chief Palaniswami.

The poll was about not allowing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he said.

Launching his campaign here in the native town of DMK founder leader CN Annadurai (1909-1969), Udhayanidhi, addressing a massive rally, recalled his father and party chief MK Stalin’s statement that the ensuing poll was a fight between TN and Delhi and asserted that the BJP must not be allowed.

Alleging that the AIADMK chief Palaniswami is PM Modi’s “slave”, Udhayanidhi claimed that the Leader of Opposition’s “ideological mentors are PM Modi and Amit Shah”.

“Hence, the Assembly election is all about “driving out” AIADMK chief Palaniswami, Can we allow PM Modi, Amit Shah in Tamil Nadu?” he asked, adding people would not allow it.

Further, he said: “In this election, we must prove that Tamil Nadu is always out of Delhi’s control. Tamil Nadu must completely sideline BJP, which is betraying the state; this must be done.” He listed out the DMK regime’s welfare schemes, including CM’s Breakfast Scheme and fare-free bus travel scheme for women.

He listed out infra schemes implemented for Kanchipuram and appealed to people to support DMK’s ‘Rising Sun’ symbol.

Udhayanidhi visited Anna’s memorial and paid floral tributes to the party icon before launching his campaign.

He said while he started the campaign from Kanchipuram, CM Stalin is set to launch the campaign from Tiruvarur on Tuesday, the home town of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi.

However, Palaniswami started his campaign from Mylapore, a constituency in Chennai allotted to the BJP.

Addressing an election meeting at Vandavasi, Udhayanidhi said that with 11.19 per cent growth, the state is in the first place. “We in Tamil Nadu have achieved this. But is the Union government supporting us? Is the Union government giving us the funds we request? Is the Union government giving us any good scheme? Nothing. They are snatching away state’s rights, including educational rights. They brought the New Education Policy and though all states in India accepted it Tamil Nadu did not.” He said that if this policy was allowed in Tamil Nadu, it will end up as an attempt to impose Hindi/Sanskrit on the people of Tamil Nadu through backdoor. The Rs 2,500 crore education fund that should come to TN has not come to this day.

Udhayanidhi alleged: “The Union Education Minister says only if we accept the new education policy will they give it. Our Chief Minister said, not Rs 2,500 crore, even if you give Rs 10,000 crore, the New Education Policy cannot be allowed to be imposed on the people of Tamil Nadu.” Furthermore, he said that while the Centre “betrayed” the state, Palaniswami has formed an alliance with the BJP that helms the union government.

He ridiculed the AIADMK chief, saying, “there is a proverb: A lid that fits the pot. You might have heard it. Like that, today Edappadi Palaniswami has turned into a slave fit for PM Modi. In politics, we have seen fierce devotees, we have seen fierce workers. But today, in the form of Edappadi Palaniswami, all of India is seeing a fierce slave, and Tamil Nadu is seeing it today.” PTI VGN JSP VGN ROH