'Disregard For India's Sovereignty': DMK Ad Featuring Chinese Flag With PM Modi, Stalin Photos Faces BJP Ire

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai on Wednesday slammed Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) over an advertisement featuring a photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister MK Stalin, along with a space rocket that bears the flag of China.

The ad is apparently for the new ISRO rocket launch site in Kulasekarapattinam town in Thoothukudi district, where PM Modi is laying the foundation stone. Slamming the ruling party, Annamalai said the advertisement by DMK Minister Thiru Anita Radhakrishnan to leading Tamil dailies today is a “manifestation of DMK’s commitment to China and their total disregard for our country’s sovereignty.”

‘Amount of desperation’

“DMK, a party fighting high on corruption, has been desperate to paste stickers ever since the announcement of ISRO’s second launch pad in Kulasekarapatinam was released,” Annamalai wrote on his social media platform X. Further criticising DMK, he said the “amount of desperation only proves their attempt to bury their past misdeeds, but we must remind them that DMK was why the Satish Dhawan Space Centre is today in Andhra Pradesh and not Tamil Nadu.”

“When the 1st launch pad of ISRO was conceptualised, TN was the first choice of ISRO. TN CM Thiru Annadurai, who could not attend the meeting because of severe shoulder pain, deputed Mathiyazhagan, one of his ministers, for the meeting,” he said. “ISRO officials were kept waiting for a long, and Mathiyazhagan was finally brought to the meeting in an ‘inebriated state’ & was incoherent throughout the meeting,” he said. Later in the day, PM Modi also criticised DMK for attempting to take credit for ISRO’s success. He said, “DMK’s advertisement today is hilarious. They have insulted Indian science and the Indian space sector, for which they must apologise.”

DMK Defends

Senior DMK leader K Kanimozhi defended the controversial ad, saying, “Nobody has announced China as an enemy country. Even PM Modi welcomed the Chinese premiere and held a meeting here in Mahabalipuram. Even in several union government ads the national flag was not present.”

Earlier in August last year, Union Minister Jitendra Singh informed Parliament that the government had approved the establishment of a new spaceport in Kulasekarapattinam for launching the Small Satellite Launch Vehicles (SSLV) developed by ISRO. The Indian space agency plans to launch the small satellites on a commercial basis from the new spaceport. Launching small satellites from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh incurs higher expenses. The new spaceport, which covers an area of 2,000 acres, will boost the growth and development of the region.