Chennai: Hardening his position against delimitation, Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Sunday called for greater unity among southern states to counter the BJP-led central govt.
In his Ugadi wishes to “Telugu and Kannada speaking Dravidian sisters and brothers,” Stalin emphasized the need for collective action from the southern states.
“In the face of growing linguistic and political threats such as Hindi imposition and delimitation, the need for southern unity has never been greater,” Stalin said in a tweet.
Stalin who had floated a platform for social justice in 2022, seeking to bring together political parties opposing the BJP across the country, has now sought to unify southern states in the delimitation row.
Earlier this month, he convened a meeting of the Joint Action Committee for fair delimitation, where leaders from all southern states except Andhra Pradesh participated.
Seeking to firm up the unified fight against BJP, Stalin had urged broader cooperation among southern states on other issues such as three-language policy and Hindi imposition too.
“We must come together and defeat every attempt to undermine our rights and identity,” Stalin said in the tweet.
“May this Ugadi kindle the spirit of resistance and solidarity that binds us together,” he said.
In another tweet, Stalin also criticized the BJP govt for the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to allow banks to increase ATM withdrawal charges to 23 a transaction beyond the monthly limit.
Stalin said the Union govt had urged everyone to open bank accounts promising ‘digital India’. But what followed was demonetisation, charges on digital transactions, penalties for low balances, and the RBI’s nod to increase charges for withdrawal from ATMs, he said.
Stalin warned the hike in charges would force people to withdraw more than necessary, ultimately harming the financially vulnerable. The move will negate objectives of financial inclusion of the poor, he said.
“The poorest will be the ones who will be hit the hardest,” he said, pointing out that those affected would include beneficiaries of MGNREGS and TN govt’s Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai scheme.
“This is not digitisation. This is institutionalised extraction,” he said.
“The poor swipe, the rich smile,” he added.