Narendra Modi compares himself and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, says DMK chief MK Stalin

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Stalin on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying it was an incongruity that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader contrasted himself and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Targeting Prime Minister Modi, the DMK chief proclaimed that his party could never get into a an alliance with the BJP.

"DMK will never line up with BJP, and Modi isn't Vajpayee. Alliance under him is certifiably not a sound coalition. It is an incongruity that PM Modi contrasts himself and Vajpayee," news agency ANI quoted Stalin as saying.

The comment by the DMK chief comes multi day after Prime Minister Modi contacted the parties in Tamil Nadu, saying that the BJP was available to alliance with parties based in the southern state and that he valued "old companions".

Addressing BJP's booth-level workers in Tamil Nadu through video conferencing, the Prime Minister alluded to "fruitful alliance governmental issues" amid the residency of Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister of the nation.

The Prime Minister stated, "Twenty years prior the visionary head Atal ji acquired another culture in Indian governmental issues, that of successful coalition politics. He gave utmost importance to regional aspirations... BJP has followed the way Atal ji has shown us.”

He said the equivalent in light of an inquiry by a BJP worker on whether the party would get into a coalition with the DMK, the AIADMK or actor Rajinikanth, who is yet to report his political party.

In 2014, the BJP had challenged the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu in alliance with upwards of six parties, incorporating those relatively smaller in strength. Among the NDA constituents were the DMDK, the PMK and Vaiko-drove MDMK. The collusion had won only two out of the 39 seats. In any case, every one of the five parties snapped ties with the BJP later.

On Friday, the PM said a strong NDA was "an article of faith for us".

"It is not a compulsion. Even when the BJP won a strong majority on its own, we liked to run the administration with our allies. We appreciate our old companions and our entryways are constantly open for gatherings," Modi said.