Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday slammed the DMK for the remark that the Lok Sabha elections would see Modi leave the country and said those who speak like this should know the elections would instead throw out corruption from India, along with nepotism, drugs and anti-national forces protected by the DMK.

Addressing an election rally at Mettupalayam in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu he said the DMK was full of arrogance of its power. One of its senior leaders, when asked about State BJP President Annamalai, remarked “Who is that”, and used an insulting expression.

This arrogance was against the great culture of Tamil Nadu, the prime minister said. This would not be acceptable to people in the state. The words used for an ex-police officer, from a backward family, who had worked on the ground, showed the true character of the DMK. This is the reason these family politics people do not allow any young person to come up in life, he said.

Mr Modi said “family” parties like the DMK and the Congress have only one agenda and it is to stay in power by uttering any falsehood. The Congress gave the slogan of garibi hatao for decades, but poverty continued in the country; it is the NDA government that has taken 25 crores out of poverty, he said.

Looking at the response the BJP has received in Tamil Nadu during the current election, the prime minister said the party appears favourite all over the state. Everybody is saying DMK will be shown the exit door by the BJP and the NDA. The whole of Tamil Nadu is saying phir ek baar, Modi Sarkar (once again, Modi government), he said.

He said discrimination and division practiced by the Congress at the Centre, is followed by the DMK in the state. The Jal Jeevan Mission is an example. His government gave water connections to crores of homes in the country but the DMK in the state goes by its voters to give these connections.

The DMK has always played the politics of hate and division, he said, and development of the State has never been its focus. He assured the crowds that in its third term, the BJP government will work for the development of the Kongu region and Nilgiris. This was Modi’s guarantee, he said.

He said the DMK and the INDI alliance can do nothing more than appeasement. There was a terrorist attack on the Sangameshwaram temple in Coimbatore but the DMK government instead of controlling the terrorists, was encouraging them.

These people opposed even the Ram temple in Ayodhya, he said. They don’t like his visiting places connected with Lord Ram. They are even threatening to finish off the Sanatan Dharma. The DMK boycotted the installation of the holy Sengol in new Parliament Building, the Prime Minister said.

Mr Modi said the DMK is another name for corruption and scams. While the country is moving towards 5G, creating records, the party has brought a bad name to the country by creating a scandal over the 2G. The DMK and the Congress are on the frontline to protect the corrupt, he said. While he proposed “bhrashtachar hatao” (remove corruption), they say “bhrashtrachari bachao” (save the corrupt).

A week ago, he said the BJP raised the Katchatheevu island issue. Government documents disclosed how the Congress and the DMK gave a part of Tamil Nadu to another country. This compromise with India’s sovereignty hurt the Indian fishermen badly. The voters must consider the sins of these parties while casting their votes, he said.

The INDI alliance of the DMK and the Congress for decades made crores of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward classes cry for housing, electricity, and water because they believed not all could be provided housing and electricity, he said.

The BJP government provided PM Awaas Yojana houses to crores of the poor, provided electricity in every village, and free rations to 80 crore poor, and most of the beneficiaries are from SC, ST, and OBC families, he said.

These family parties believe other than their children, no poor tribal can ever occupy a high position. The BJP for the first time made a poor tribal woman President of the country and even at that time the INDI alliance opposed her candidature strongly, the Prime Minister said.