Rahul Gandhi slams AIADMK govt in Tamil Nadu, says CM forced to bow down in front of BJP

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday slammed the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government in Tamil Nadu as he said that the chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami is "forced to bow down" in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah "because of corruption he has done" in the past.

He also claimed that the Bharatiya Janta Party leaders control the Tamil Nadu government. "When I see the Prime Minister controlling Tamil Nadu chief minister, making him touch his feet silently, I'm not ready to accept it. Tamil Nadu CM doesn't want to bow in front of Amit Shah but he is forced to because of the corruption he has done," news agency ANI quoted Gandhi as saying. "Ironically, because of the money he has stolen from the people of Tamil Nadu, he is now trapped," Gandhi also alleged.

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"The only relationship possible in BJP is where you have to touch the feet of the leader of BJP, bow down before Narendra Modi or Amit Shah," he further said as per ANI.

Gandhi said that AIADMK-BJP front would be "decimated" in Tamil Nadu in the poll battle and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), its chief MK Stalin and his party-led Secular Progressive Alliance is the instrument that would steer the rout of AIADMK and its allies, he said.

Tamil Nadu will go to the polls on April 6 and the counting of votes will take place on May 2. The BJP is contesting the election in alliance with the AIADMK which is in direct contest with DMK.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi attacked the BJP as he alleged that the central government has made petrol-diesel cheaper by 17/18 paise per litre in the view of Assembly elections in four states and Puducherry. "Due to the election, the central government has made petrol-diesel cheaper by 17/18 paise per liter. What will you do with this amount of savings?" he wrote on Twitter.