DMK President MK Stalin and his sister and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi offering coffee to Union minister for road... Read More

CHENNAI: National leaders who gathered in Chennai to condole the death of DMK leader M Karunanidhi used the stage for BJP bashing, calling Narendra Modi a “Hitler, Mussolini and a fascist”.

Several leaders who spoke on the occasion reiterated the need for all parties to come together to defeat BJP in 2019.

The lone BJP representative on the stage, Union minister Nitin Gadkari recalled DMK’s association with Jan Sangh during Emergency. After Gadkari left, the attack on BJP grew more strident.

“Gadkari called Emergency bad. Karunanidhi was a democrat and he opposed it. But if Emergency was bad, the present situation is worse and we must all unite. Like his father, DMK president Stalin too will have to stand up to fight the oppression,” Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said. TDP Rajya Sabha MP YS Chowdary recalled his party walking out of the alliance with BJP.

“I wish Gadkari was on the stage as I wanted him know what is happening in the country. Recently Dalit activists were arrested and but for the Supreme Court, they would all be in prison,” said CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy praised Karunanidhi for championing self-respect and social justice.

