BJP, Congress rally for ‘Jai Hind’, corner ruling DMK after row erupts

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Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Congress, which is in an alliance with the ruling DMK has come out in support of the patriotic slogan ‘Jai Hind’ after a row over it erupted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

The issue came to light after the new Assembly’s first session that was held in the previous week. An MLA from an ally of the DMK had proudly pointed out the absence of the phrase ‘Jai Hind’ in the Governor’s Address.

“After Governor’s address, it became evident that Tamil Nadu has regained its stature of holding its head high. In the Governor’s address during the previous (AIADMK) regime, he signed off with Nandri (Thanks), Vanakkam (Greetings) and Jai Hind (Victory to India). But this time, there was no mention of Jai Hind in the address,” MLA ER Eswaran was seen saying in the Assembly.

It was BJP State Vice President Annamalai who had first brought the issue to notice on social media. Referring to this incident, he said that the level of political discourse in Tamil Nadu has stooped so low. He also condemned the DMK's usage of the term "ondriya arasu" (union government) rather than central government. He questioned why the DMK chose to use the term now, rather than when they were in an alliance with the UPA and also in power in Tamil Nadu between 2006 and 2011.

Many netizens followed suit to point out the conspicuous absence of Jai Hind. They condemned the statement by the MLA and also the behavior of the ruling DMK that did not pay heed to these actions.

The level to which our political discourse in Tamil Nadu has stooped down & the present atmosphere of ‘you scratch my back & I scratch yours’.

A politician feeling happy in the assembly that ‘Jai Hind’ is not used after Governors address!

- Jai Hind pic.twitter.com/fGk3MzjWiD — K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) June 24, 2021

Many social media users had also stated that ‘Jai Hind’ was a patriotic slogan and had nothing political in it, thus conveying that it ought to be applicable to all parties irrespective of ideology. They also added that no political party could claim ownership of it.

On Sunday, the Tamil Nadu Congress’ also shared an old clip of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi enthusiastically saying ‘Jai Hind’, while a huge crowd of supporters repeated after her. Despite being an ally of the ruling DMK, the Congress Twitter handle shared it with the hashtag #PorudToSayJaiHind.

ஜெய்ஹிந்த்...#ProudToSayJaiHind pic.twitter.com/tZyWPDH1PM — Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (@INCTamilNadu) June 27, 2021

On Monday, Tamil Nadu State BJP President Dr L Murugan issued a statement condemning the DMK and the MLA’s actions in the Assembly. He added that, henceforth, BJP MLAs in the Tamil Nadu Assembly would raise patriotic and nationalistic slogans such as ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, ‘Vande Mataram and ‘Jai Hind’ among others.