Why politicians love to quote Thiruvalluvar

Jul 9, 2020 | 13:26 IST

Verses of the celebrated Tamil poet deal with a wide array of subjects and help establish a connect with common people

Days after the stand-off with China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing Army troops in Ladakh on July 5 recited a couplet by the Tamil philosopher-poet Thiruvalluvar to talk about valour. For anyone following Modi’s speeches, the verses written more than 2,000 years ago are now oft quoted by him.

In February, when Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget, she referred to the words of Thiruvalluvar to say that a good country needs five ‘jewels’ — free from epidemic or illness, wealth, farm productivity or crop, happiness and good defence.

/india

TOI

TOI

Why politicians love to quote Thiruvalluvar

Verses of the celebrated Tamil poet deal with a wide array of subjects and help establish a connect with common people

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TOI

Why politicians love to quote Thiruvalluvar

Verses of the celebrated Tamil poet deal with a wide array of subjects and help establish a connect with common people

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