A sharp political row was triggered in Bihar on Wednesday when the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ rally in Bihar.
Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongly criticised Stalin’s participation, they recalled earlier comments made by DMK leaders insulting people of Bihar and north India.
BJP Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai took to X (formerly Twitter) to release what he described as a compilation of “uncouth remarks” made by Stalin, his party colleagues, and DMK’s alliance partners. “TN CM Thiru @mkstalin avl is in Bihar today. Here is an evergreen compilation of his, his party members’, and his alliance partners’ uncouth remarks about our Bihari brothers and sisters,” Annamalai posted.
He further challenged Stalin to repeat those remarks openly on stage in Bihar alongside Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
According to HT, the video compilation included remarks by Stalin himself, DMK ministers TRB Rajaa and KN Nehru, senior leaders K Ponmudy and RS Bharathi, and VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan, who is an ally of the DMK.
Union Minister L Murugan also questioned the significance of Stalin’s participation. Speaking to ANI, he said, “I don’t know which language he will speak in Bihar. Even if he speaks English, it will reflect his colonial mindset. Our Prime Minister is erasing the colonial mindset, and we are promoting our Indian culture and tradition. So, if he chooses to speak in English there, the local people will still translate it into Hindi. What is the use of his participation in the rally in Bihar?”
Another BJP leader, CR Kesavan, took the attack further by asking whether Stalin would extend greetings to the people of Bihar on Ganesh Chaturthi, pointing to his past avoidance of Hindu festival wishes. He added that the people of Bihar would not forget how senior DMK leaders had previously insulted them.
Despite the criticism, Stalin went ahead and shared the stage with Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav at the Bihar rally. Addressing the crowd, Tejashwi Yadav accused the ruling NDA of denying people their rights, and said the NDA now stood for “Nahi Denge Adhikar.”
The rally, part of Rahul Gandhi’s campaign, accused the BJP-led alliance for undermining the Constitution and people’s voting rights.
