Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who began his speech with usual “Vanakkam” and a war cry “Vetrivel Veeravel (victorious & courageous Vel Murugan)”, went on to emphasise Tamil people’s contribution in enriching Indian culture.
Launching BJP’s attempts to connect with voters in Tamil Nadu focusing on Tamil language and culture, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh delivered a surprise in his public rally in Salem on Sunday. Singh, who began his speech with usual “Vanakkam” and a war cry “Vetrivel Veeravel (victorious & courageous Vel Murugan)”, went on to emphasise Tamil people’s contribution in enriching Indian culture. He spoke about the contributions of Rajaraja Chola and Rajendra Chola to lay the foundation of India’s maritime and naval strength, projected Tamil culture as the Amma of Indian culture and even referred to the Sensex boom as a Jallikkettu. Even while attacking the Congress, he threw a question to the crowd whether they considered the opposition party as “nallavara kettavara” (bad or good, in the lines of one of the iconic dialogues by Kamal Haasan in the film Nayagan). The BJP state unit was apparently thrilled that Singh could deliver such a speech, touching upon the glories of culture and language.
No Boycott
It has been almost a year since the first-generation IITs decided to collectively boycott the Times Higher Education (THE) rankings over transparency concerns. However, the Standing Committee of IIT Council, which met a few months ago, is learnt to have advised the institutes to engage with the ranking agency instead of boycotting it. The IITs, it is learnt, will now be part of a task force that will be set up by the Education Ministry to communicate the concerns of higher education institutions over the ranking methodology of THE.
Criticism Criticised
Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, created a flutter in Delhi after riding a cycle from his home to his office on Monday to protest against rising petrol and diesel prices. His action was criticised by the BJP, which said Vadra was riding a cycle wearing an expensive suit. BJP general secretary CT Ravi tweeted that Vadra was protesting wearing a suit, with a “diesel guzzling Land Cruiser following him.”
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