MK Stalin’s minister accepts ‘small mistake’ called out by PM Narendra Modi
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chided the MK Stalin government over the photograph of a Chinese rocket in an advertisement for a new ISRO facility, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and Tamil Nadu minister Anitha Radhakrishnan admitted that they made “a small mistake”.
Radhakrishnan said that officials missed a mistake made by those who designed the advertisement.
“A small mistake has been made in the newspaper advertisement given by us regarding the setting up of a rocket launch pad in the Kulasekarapatnam area,” he told ANI on Thursday.
“The image of the Chinese flag in the advertisement welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a mistake by those who designed the advertisement, which went unnoticed by us,” he added.
PM Modi slammed Tamil Nadu government
On Wednesday, PM Modi, while addressing a gathering in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli, said the DMK government pasted China’s sticker to take “false credit” for ISRO’s facility in Tamil Nadu.
“DMK is a party that does not work but stands ahead to take false credit. These people paste their stickers on our schemes. Now they have crossed the limits, they have pasted China’s sticker to take credit for the ISRO launch pad in Tamil Nadu,” he had said.
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He said with the advertisement, the MK Stalin-led government insulted India’s scientists and the space sector.
“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,” he said.
BJP said ad showed DMK’s China tilt
Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai claimed the advertisement showed DMK’s commitment to China.
Also read: China rocket on DMK’s ISRO ad sparks row, PM Modi says shows ‘commitment to…’
“This advertisement by DMK Minister Anita Radhakrishnan to leading Tamil dailies today is a manifestation of DMK’s commitment to China and their total disregard for our country’s sovereignty. DMK, a party fighting high on corruption, has been desperate to paste stickers ever since the announcement of ISRO’s second launch pad in Kulasekarapatinam was released,” he wrote on X on Wednesday.
DMK’s counterattack
Reacting to Modi’s attack, DMK MP Kanimozhi said on Wednesday that India had not declared China an enemy country. She pointed out that PM Modi had himself invited Chinese leader Xi Jinping to India.
“I don’t think India has declared China an enemy country. I have seen that the Prime Minister has invited the Chinese leader and they have gone to Mahabalipuram. Just because you do not want to accept the truth, you are finding reasons to divert the issue,” she said.