DMK leader A. Raja has implored Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to provide “state autonomy” to Tamil Nadu and not push them to seek an independent country.

Though the icon of the Dravidian movement, Thanthai Periyar, stood for an independent Tamil Nadu, the DMK moved away from it, Raja said on Sunday, addressing a party meet of representatives of urban local bodies. The conference was held in Namakkal in western Tamil Nadu.

“I am telling Amit Shah and the Prime Minister with utmost humility, I implore you in the presence of (our) leaders on the dais, our chief minister is journeying on the path of Anna (C.N. Annadurai, former chief minister and DMK founder), do not push us on the path of Periyar. Do not make us seek a separate country, give state autonomy and we will not rest till then,” he said.

BJP national general secretary C.T. Ravi said the DMK leader’s statement was the regional party’s acceptance of the failure of its Dravidian politics.

Ravi, who is the BJP in-charge of Tamil Nadu, said the saffron party’s growth in the state had turned the heat on the ruling DMK there.

“If they (DMK) are talking such things in Tamil Nadu after doing five decades of politics, it is clear that the BJP’s growth is turning the heat on them. Realising that their ideology has failed, they are talking about such things,” Ravi said in Bangalore.

Tamil Nadu BJP vice-president Narayanan Tirupathi condemned Raja’s remark as “blatantly divisive”.

Rejecting criticism against the remark, DMK spokesperson Constantine Ravindran said Raja had made it amply clear that the party travelled on the path of Anna, fully supporting India’s integrity and the principles of democracy.

The message that Raja wanted to convey was that Tamil Nadu should be given autonomy to work towards development and uphold its rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

Tamil Nadu governor R.N. Ravi has not given his assent to several bills passed by the state Assembly, he said and wanted to know if hampering development was the idea of the Union government. Under the BJP-led dispensation, the state government does not have any rights whatsoever, he said.