BJP ridicules TN CM’s saffron remark, says DMK aligned with it in 1999
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu BJP on Tuesday ridiculed Chief Minister M K Stalin’s remark that the BJP wanted to saffronise the state and said it was late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi who had planned it in 1999.
Referring to the DMK president’s comment at the party’s 12th conference in Tiruchirappalli on March 9, Tamil Nadu BJP's chief spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy said, “It was your father who planned to make Tamil Nadu a saffron state in 1999.”
He was apparently referring to the DMK joining the NDA then led by A B Vajpayee in 1999. Following the NDA's victory in that election, the DMK leaders were provided berths in the Vajpayee cabinet.
"They are planning to somehow make Tamil Nadu a saffron country. As long as there is a black-red crowd (of the DMK), no matter who comes, it will not happen," Stalin said in the conference.
"It was your father who planned to make Tamil Nadu a saffron state in 1999," Thirupathy said in a post on the social media platform ‘X.’
In a lighter vein, the BJP leader remarked that the colours black and red (colours of the DMK flag) are synonymous with the dress code of Ayyappa devotees and Om Shakti devotees - the ones who support saffron.
Addressing the conference, Stalin alleged that AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami, out of selfishness and in order to become CM, turned into the BJP's "slave" and mortgaged the party in Delhi. Using Palaniswami, the BJP was trying to "destroy the entire AIADMK," he alleged.
A 'Saffron crowd,' an obvious reference to the BJP, wants to "swallow Tamil Nadu", and DMK will not allow it to happen, Stalin had asserted.
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SC asks states to treat rising child trafficking cases as grave; seeks coordinated action
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has voiced grave concern over rising cases of child trafficking, saying gangs are operating across the country and if States and Union territories do not take immediate action, thing will go beyond control.
The court said only the state government and its home department can act vigilantly in this regard.
“As a court we can monitor, but ultimately the action has to be on the part of the state government, the police, and other agencies. Therefore, this is our humble request”, a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan said during the hearing of a plea on Wednesday.
The bench was irked over the "lackadaisical" approach of several states and UTs in implementing a 2025 judgment aimed at dismantling organised trafficking networks.
Justice Viswanathan said the retrieval of children in some cases proves the problem can be tackled, but it requires a level of political and administrative will which is lacking at present.
The verdict, delivered on April 15, 2025, had mandated several institutional reforms, including completion of trials in trafficking cases within six months on a day-to-day basis.
It had also directed strengthening of Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) and improving investigation standards.
Besides asking for setting up of state-level committees to monitor vulnerable trafficking hotspots, it had asked the authorities to treat missing children cases as trafficking unless proven otherwise.
Earlier, the bench had termed the compliance reports filed by a few states as "nothing but an eye wash."
On Wednesday, the bench noted that Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Punjab had still failed to file reports in the prescribed format.
When the home secretary of Madhya Pradesh offered an apology for the lapse, the bench granted a "final opportunity" but warned that continued failure would lead to states being officially branded as "defaulting".
The bench noted that at least 15 states are yet to constitute review committees mandated to identify and monitor trafficking-prone areas.
The matter will now be heard on April 29.
