AIADMK, Sasikala slam Annamalai for his 'Jaya, a superior Hindutva leader' remark
Chennai, May 25: Senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar on Saturday condemned BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai for his "Jayalalithaa was a far superior Hindutva leader" remark and said the late party supremo 'Amma' had been a leader of people belonging to all faiths.
Confidante of Jayalalithaa, V K Sasikala, said Annamalai's comment showed his 'ignorance' and his 'flawed understanding' of the former chief minister.
Jayakumar, a former minister during the previous AIADMK regime, said Jayalalithaa equally regarded people belonging to all religions and she had been a leader of people of all faiths.
The AIADMK leader condemned Annamalai, alleging the BJP leader made that comment eyeing political mileage and to create an identity for himself in Tamil Nadu by adding a Hindutva tag to Amma and this was a wanton act to bring disrepute to her.
When Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992, Jayalalithaa, as Chief Minister ensured peace and implemented a slew of schemes for the welfare of minorities, such as free rice to mosques during the fasting month of Ramzan and financial assistance to Christians in order to support them to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Jayakumar said in a statement.
"She had been firm in making no comprosmises in respecting the religious beliefs of people belonging to all faiths and in protecting them all." Amma's legacy of being an unparalleled leader of people belonging to all religions will continue to be part of Tamil Nadu's history, Jayakumar added.
Sasikala said Jayalalithaa transcended barriers of castes and religions and she was a great leader who was respected by all sections of the society. She was the only leader who was regarded as their own by all the people, be it Hindus, Muslims or Christians and such a tall leader cannot be brought under a specific, narrow tag, she said in a post on 'X'.
On May 23, in an interview to PTI, Annamalai had said, "...till Jayalalithaaji was alive, she was a far superior Hindutva leader than anybody in Tamil Nadu. Pre-2014, when you have a party like the BJP and Jayalalithaa as a leader the natural choice of a Hindu voter would be Jayalalithaa, who displayed her Hindu identity openly."
The BJP is filling the void in Tamil Nadu politics left by the death of AIADMK supremo and former chief minister Jayalalithaa, Annamalai had said.
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At least 4 people killed in one of largest Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia
Kyiv, May (AP): At least four people, including three near Moscow, died in one of the largest Ukrainian overnight attacks against Russia since the start of the war, according to Russian local authorities.
A woman was killed after a drone hit her home in Khimki, a city just northwest of Moscow, and two men died in the village of Pogorelki 10 km north of the capital, according to local Gov. Andrei Vorobyev.
In social media updates, Vorobyev said Ukrainian drones had also damaged unspecified “infrastructure” and several high-rises.
In Moscow itself, at least 12 people were wounded in the nighttime strike, mostly near the entrance to the city's oil refinery, mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported. Sobyanin reported the “technology” of the refinery has not been damaged.
Russian defences shot down 81 drones headed for Moscow overnight, state agency Tass reported, citing Sobyanin, marking one of the largest attacks on the Russian capital since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
One man was also killed as a drone struck a lorry in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, according to local authorities.
Russian air defences destroyed 556 drones over Russia overnight, the country's defence ministry said Sunday morning. Shortly after midday local time, it reported that over 1,000 had been shot down or jammed in the previous 24 hours.
Russia's largest airport — Moscow's Sheremetyevo — said drone debris had fallen on its premises without causing damage.
Russia attacked Ukraine with 287 drones overnight on Sunday, 279 of which were shot down or jammed, the Ukrainian air force reported.
According to Ukraine's estate emergency service, the strikes injured 8 people in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region: three in the regional capital of Dnipro, four in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih, and one in the district of Synelkove.
Residential buildings were damaged in all three locations, the service said.
