Centre has created a situation worse than battlefield against farmers: Stalin

Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday condemned the BJP-led government at the Centre for "creating a situation worse than a battlefield" to suppress the farmers who are on a protest march to Delhi.

Barricades were put up all around to restrain them, and the police were posted in large numbers, causing a tense situation near the national capital, Stalin pointed out, wondering aloud if democracy and the Constitution were still in force.

Calling upon his party to gear up for a three-day state-wide campaign titled 'Stalin's Call to Retrieve Rights (Urimaigalai Meetka Stalin-in Kural)' beginning 16 February, Stalin has written a letter to party cadre stating that the 2024 Lok Sabha election will turn out to be a fitting reply to the BJP government at the Centre.

Haryana security personnel lobbed tear gas shells on farmers from Punjab at Shambhu border between the two states as thousands of protestors stationed themselves there on Wednesday, the second day of their 'Delhi Chalo' march.

The police action came whenever any group of protesting farmers tried to move towards the barricades. Some farmers also pelted stones at the security personnel who were positioned close to the roadblock.

"As I write this letter to you (DMK workers), the Union government has created an environment worse than a battlefield to suppress our protesting farmers. Will democracy last in India? Is the constitution in place?" Stalin, who is the president of the DMK, asked in the letter.

The theme of the three-day DMK campaign will be 'let fascism fall, and India rise'.

"Whenever there was a threat to Indian democracy, Tamil Nadu has been the first to raise a firm voice to defend it and "it will be the DMK's voice", Stalin said in the note, asserting that the DMK has begun giving "sleepless nights" to BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda, and as a result, they have been ranting against the DMK while touring the country.

He accused the Centre of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, the CBI and Income Tax department to target non-BJP ruled states and creating a crisis using state governors. "In short, the Centre is acting like a dictator and snatching the rights of states like Tamil Nadu," he said.

Also training his guns on the opposition AIADMK, Stalin alleged that though the AIADMK had announced that it had severed ties with the BJP, it still had a tacit understanding with the saffron party, and it should be exposed in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.