"DMK and Congress have insulted the late mother of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. God forbid, if they come to power, the Congress and DMK will insult more women of Tamil Nadu," he said at a public meeting at Dharapuram.

 

Recalling how late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was insulted in the Assembly on March 20, 1989 when the DMK had come to power, he alleged that "insulting women is part of the DMK culture".

 

"We believe that the progress of the society is not complete without empowerment of women," he said. He also spoke of his high esteem for the ideals of late Chief Ministers MGR and Jayalalithaa, of the AIADMK.

 

Modi also said that India is proud of the culture of Tamil Nadu and his government wants to promote Tamil culture and Tamil language to empower the farmers, poor and women of the state.

 

"I had got a chance to speak a few words in the oldest language in the world - Tamil in the United Nations and it was one of the proudest moments of my life," he said.

 

He said that higher education should be in Tamil and the government is trying to promote even medical and technical education in Tamil language.

 

He said that the people from Tamil Nadu had created wealth and value for the nation are are known for business sense and compassion. "The small and medium businessmen of this state had gone out of the way to help others," he said, adding that his government will support any business to grow and prosper.

 

The Prime Minister said that the defence corridor in Tamil Nadu will bring lot of benefits, adding that he is proud to announce that tanks made in Tamil Nadu are deployed on the border in north India to protect the nation.

 

He said that a toy cluster will be opened in Tamil Nadu and will support several artisans and people who make dolls and toys.

 

"Our key focus is the MSME sector... the bedrock of our economy and our government has changed the criteria for MSME business... Rs 14,000 crore has been sanctioned for 3.6 lakh MSMEs in state and 8.5 lakh MSMEs have benefitted from the Credit-linked guarantee schemes."

 

Hitting out at the opposition alliance, he alleged: "The corrupt eyes of the Congress and the DMK will never allow business grow and their local strongmen will be busy in money collecting drives. Frequent power cuts will not allow business to grow."

 

Quoting the Tamil epic Tirukkural, he said: "One very common thing in Tirukkural is respect for farmers. The kural says farming is the best, farmers are the kings of the world" and that the agriculture sector is in urgent need of modernisation.

 

"Our government has initiated reforms that will free small farmers from the clutches of middlemen... The Soil card, Kisan Credit Card are aimed at empowering farmers. Rs 6,000 annual stipend for farmers and fishermen is prominently stated in our manifesto," he said.

 

Calling upon the people to read the BJP manifesto in detail, he said: "Together we will serve you all and fulfil your dreams and guarantee a bright future for your children."

 

Chief Minister Palaniswami presided over the meeting which was attended by Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, BJP state chief and Dharapuram candidate L. Murugan and other leaders.