A newspaper advertisement in Tamil Nadu that included pictures of Chief Minister M K Stalin and Prime Minister Modi with a rocket in the backdrop has sparked controversy. The debate escalated due to one of the rockets bearing a Chinese flag on its nose cone.
The advertisement appeared ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inauguration of a new launch complex in Kulasekarapattinam in Tuticorin district on Wednesday. It is alleged to have been released by Minister for Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Anitha R Radhakrishnan.
The prime minister slammed the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), saying that the party was attempting to take credit for initiatives that the BJP-led Centre was working on and putting their name on them.
"DMK is such a party which doesn't do any work but goes ahead to take false credit. Who doesn't know that these people put their stickers on our schemes? Now they have crossed the limit, they have pasted stickers of China to take credit for the Isro launch pad in Tamil Nadu," PM Modi said at a public rally in Tirunelveli.
The Prime Minister, "They are not ready to accept India's progress in the space sector and with the taxes that you pay, they give advertisements and do not even include a picture of India's space in it. They did not want to present India's space success in front of the world, they insulted our scientists, our space sector, and your tax money. Now it's high time that the DMK is punished for their deeds."
Meanwhile, DMK MP K Kanimozhi defended the party and said: "I don't know from where the person who did the artwork found this picture."
"I don't think India has declared China an enemy country. I have seen that the Prime Minister has invited the Chinese PM and they have gone to Mahabalipuram," Kanimozhi said while speaking to reporters outside Chennai airport on Wednesday.
"Just because you do not want to accept the truth, you are finding reasons to divert the issue."
