We want leader like him: Rahul Gandhi hails K Kamaraj for implementing mid-day meal scheme in TN

Recalling former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Kumaraswami Kamaraj for his leadership quality, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that when it came to implementing the mid-day meal in state, the leader did not care about the economists' opinion that it would be a bad idea, he only listened to the people and introduced the scheme.

Kamaraj served as the Tamil Nadu chief minister for three consecutive terms from 1954-1963.

"Economists had said Mid-day Meals would be bad idea, but Kamaraj ji (former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister) listened to people and brought in the scheme. Tamil Nadu showed direction to India as the scheme was introduced later in country. That is the kind of leader we want," said Gandhi while addressing a rally in Tenkasi.

Cornering the Central governmet, the Wayanad MP allleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government does not respect the people of Tamil Nadu, their culture and language.

"The Narendra Modi government does not respect the people of Tamil Nadu, the language of Tamil Nadu, and the culture of Tamil Nadu. He says India has one language, one culture, one religion and one history," he added.

He further said the Congress party looks forward to a government in Tamil Nadu that looks after the interest of farmers, small businesses and labourers.

On Saturday, Gandhi had slammed the Union Government, stating that the Centre thinks they can control the people of Tamil Nadu. He even targeted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palswami and alleged that he is a corrupt leader.

"I fall asleep at night in 30 seconds as I am not afraid of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. How long does Tamil Nadu CM take? He can't sleep at night as he is not honest. Since he is dishonest he cannot stand up against Mr Modi who thinks he can control people of Tamil Nadu because Chief Minister is corrupt," he had said.

Tamil Nadu assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 6 and the counting of votes will be done on May 2, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Friday.

With this announcement, the model code of conduct comes into force. The assembly elections in the southern state are important for the national as well as the regional political parties.

Polls will be held for 234 seats in Tamil Nadu with the Congress-DMK and BJP-AIADMK alliance being the major groups contesting against each other.

( With inputs from ANI )