Coimbatore: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharama on Sunday condemned the rising incidents of waiving black flags to central government leaders in Tamilnadu.
Referring to the recent incident where in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was shown black flags during his visits, Sitharaman said such acts lowered the image of Tamilnadu.
The minister was here to address BJP workers on the preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. And replying to reporters about Centre reportedly neglecting the State and imposing unwanted projects, the defence minister said it was not the BJP which brought such initiatives.
She gave examples such as banning of Jallikattu and the hydrocarbon and neutrino projects, and said these were not sanctioned by the BJP government.
The then Congress and DMK coalition had banned jallikattu and it was the BJP government that brought back the sport a year ago, she said.
She said that such acts has lowered the image of Tamilnadu. When asked about alliance for the upcoming elections, Sitharaman said she did not have a specific answer, especially with the ruling AIADMK.
Talking about the opposition’s criticism that the interim budget was an election manifesto, she said the announcements were welcomed by the people and the other parties were not able to digest it.