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NT Bureau
Chennai, Sept 26:
 

ON BATTERING RAM: BJP president Rajnath Singh addressing a press conference at the party headquarters 'Kamalalayam' in Chennai today. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu are also present. Photo: K Vijay Anand

        BJP president Rajnath Singh today demanded the Centre to deploy central forces for the 1 October bandh called by DMK and its allies in the State over the Sethu Samudaram Shipping Canal Project and also reiterated his demand to sack DMK Ministers from the Union Cabinet, if the Tamilnadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and party president failed to withdraw his remarks on Lord Ram.

        Speaking to reporters at State BJP headquarters 'Kamalalayam', which was damaged allegedly by DMK workers recently, Singh said the central forces must be deployed to protect the private and the public properties and to ensure security of BJP and other supporters to Ram Sethu. He also expressed solidarity with AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa's stand on the Sethu.

        Sack DMK Union Ministers

        The BJP president said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president should ask Karunanidhi to withdraw his remarks on Ram and apologise before the nation. 'While the same Congress party, 20 years ago, banned Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses, why could it not ask Karunanidhi to withdraw the remarks and apologise now,' he wondered. If the DMK did not take back the comments, its Central Ministers should be sacked, he said.

        Hurting Hindus

        Calling the attack on the BJP office as unfortunate, he said the DMK chief's comments on Ram came as a surprise to crores of Hindus across the nation. Questioning the existence of Ram is a clear case of blasphemy, he said, 'By his statement, Karunanidhi has hurt the faith and beliefs of Hindus.'

        On Union Shipping Minister T R Baalu's remarks that the Centre would not change the alignment of the Sethu project, he said, 'the people will compel Baalu and the DMK to realign the Sethu' and reiterated that his party was not against the project, but only was demanding realignment without damaging Ram Sethu.

        To a question on FIR filed against former BJP MP Ram Vilas Vedanti who allegedly gave a call to 'behead' Karunanidhi, he said the BJP not only had disassociated itself from his statement but had also disapproved it.

        BJP won't be cowed down

        Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu, speaking on the attack of the party office, said, 'we are not going to be cowed down by such attacks. Ours is an ideological party and we will continue our movement on Ram Sethu.'

        Earlier, Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders paid homage to Jana Krishnamurthy, former national president of BJP, who passed away in the city.