leaders of Tamil Nadu BJP asked the party’s Central leadership to take stringent action against MDMK leader Vaiko, who continues to be a member of the NDA, for the latter’s attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Vaiko had lambasted the Prime Minister for shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with Sri lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa during the SAARC Summit in Nepal on Thursday.
Prime Minister Modi had also extended his good wishes to President Rajapaksa who is seeking re-election in January 2015. “Rajapaksa is responsible for killing hundreds of Tamils in Sri lanka. How can India’s Prime Minister exchange greetings with a person like RajapaksaIJ” Vaiko told reporters on Thursday.
Though senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy was the only leader who had taken strong exceptions to Vaiko’s outbursts against Prime Minister Modi in the past, H Raja, party’s national secretary came down heavily on the MDMK leader for his comments. “I have informed the party leadership including the BJP president Amit Shah and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh about Vaiko’s criticism of the Prime Minister. I have told them that this attitude of Vaiko is not conducive for the functioning of the NDA in Tamil Nadu,” Raja told The Pioneer.
The Tamil chauvinistic comments of Vaiko, which were occasional in the past, have become frequent recently. He had ridiculed the action of President Rajapaksa releasing the five convicts hailing from Tamil Nadu who were sentenced to death by the Colombo High Court, terming it as a drama enacted by the leadership of the BJP and Sri lanka.
But sources in the MDMK are of the view that Vaiko is waiting for the BJP to oust him from the NDA so that he could exploit some sympathy from Tamil Nadu voters. Thursday saw the MDMK general secretary complimenting Jayalalithaa, the AIADMK supremo for her good works to get Tamil the status of a classical language.