DMK’s Stalin on Dravida Nadu: ‘It is welcome, and it will happen I believe’

At a press conference in Erode, Tamil Nadu, Stalin was asked by a reporter his opinion on the southern states combining to form a Dravida Nadu, to which he responded, "If this happens, it is welcome and it will happen I believe."

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | Updated: March 17, 2018 05:49 PM IST

2 min read

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DMK Working President M K Stalin on Friday said he welcomed the idea of all the five southern states and one Union Territory forming a ‘Dravida Nadu’. When asked his opinion on the possibility of the states — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, and the UT of Puducherry — coming together, he said that he believes this will happen.

At a press conference in Erode, Tamil Nadu, Stalin was asked by a reporter his opinion on the southern states combining to form a Dravida Nadu. “If this happens, it is welcome and it will happen I believe,” ANI quoted him as saying.

Stalin, meanwhile, has written to AIADMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami, urging him to support the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)’s no-confidence motion against the BJP-led government in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The top leadership of the party is yet to take a decision on backing the Andhra party. AIADMK is the third largest party in the House.

Dravida Nadu is the idea of a homeland comprising Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada speakers. The concept of this homeland was espoused by EV Ramasamy ‘Periyar’. Based on this idea, he advocated the idea of Dravida national identity. Back in the 1940s, in a bid to redeem the identity and self-respect of Tamils, he founded his party Dravidar Kazhagan, with this as one of the founding principles.

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