New Delhi: BJP IT Cell convener Amit Malviya hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, asking him to take a look at the recent poll results from Tamil Nadu, which Gandhi had claimed would "never" be ruled by the BJP during his speech to Parliament.
The BJP has won 230 town panchayat wards, 56 municipality wards and 22 corporation wards, including one in the Greater Chennai Corporation. With this, BJP has emerged as the third-largest party after the DMK and the AIADMK, claimed Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai. In more than 20 wards, the BJP stood second to DMK, although the Congress, an ally of the ruling DMK party, had a greater seat share.
Annamalai had also responded to Gandhi's speech by pointing out that neighbouring Puducherry was under BJP control and that Tamil Nadu was next. The Congress was in 'critical condition' and only surviving through 'oxygen support' that was the DMK partnership, he said.
"Never forget 'History' sir. You will be condemned to repeat it. Like it happened to you in Amethi! Bye bye sir, for the time being, till you run away to the next artificial issue that you create," he added
"Just a few days back Rahul Gandhi held out a prophecy in Parliament that the BJP will never rule Tamilnadu. I hope ULB elections have disabused him of such notions. BJP is now the 3rd largest party after DMK and AIADMK, ahead of the Congress. BJP won in areas it hadn't won ever!" BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya tweeted.
Rahul Gandhi had used Tamil Nadu as the anvil upon which he hammered the BJP leadership for its treatment of the southern state in his speech in Parliament, stressing the importance of cooperative federalism in the running of the nation.
"There are two visions of this country. One vision is that it is a union of states meaning it is a negotiation, meaning it is a conversation, meaning I can go to my brother in Tamil Nadu and I say 'What do you want?' and he says, 'this is what I want.' He then asks me 'What do you want?' and I say 'this is what I want.' It is a partnership, it is not a kingdom. You will never, ever in your entire life, rule over the people of Tamil Nadu, it cannot be done," Rahul had said.
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M K Stalin took to Twitter and thanked Gandhi for his "rousing speech in the Parliament, expressing the idea of Indian Constitution in an emphatic manner."