“As a Tamil, I painfully request that he should not lose the dignity due to his position by such speeches,” he said. “In this great India, which is multi-faceted and sees unity in diversity,” Stalin added, “I insist that the Prime Minister and the BJP stop their petty political activities of creating hatred between Hindus and Muslims, and of creating hostility between Tamils and the people of Bihar, and instead focus on the welfare of the nation.”

He further accused the BJP of expressing “hatred against Tamils for electoral politics” and condemned the party’s rhetoric in Odisha and Bihar.

Stalin’s statement comes as political tempers rise in Bihar, where identity, migration and employment remain potent campaign themes.

Prime Minister Modi accused parties in the Opposition alliance of discriminating against migrants from Bihar. He cited a past incident involving a Congress chief minister in Punjab who, he said, had publicly declared during a rally that people from Bihar would not be allowed to enter the state. He also pointed to Congress leaders in Karnataka and Telangana, alleging that they had insulted people from Bihar, and added that Stalin’s DMK had done the same in Tamil Nadu. According to Modi, those very leaders who had allegedly insulted the people of Bihar in their own states were now being brought to Bihar to campaign for the Opposition bloc.