Continuing her tirade against the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday appealed to the electorate to strengthen her hands to form a strong government at the Centre which would deal with the issues faced by the country efficiently.
Speaking on the second day of campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections at Meenambakkam near here, the AIADMK supremo said, “This time around, the Lok Sabha elections are of an extraordinary nature...it is an election for ensuring freedom from the worst-ever corrupt regime and security of the nation and the people, facing threats from neighbouring countries. It is the election that is going to change the destiny of the country and its people.”
The economy of the country had come to a standstill due to the all-pervading corruption in the UPA regime, she said and pointed out that the DMK, which was part of the Union government, was responsible for the 2G scam. Worse, the Congress-led government had not spared the Ministry of Defence from corruption. “In short, the Congress-led government has transformed the Defence Department into a defenceless department. The office of the Comptroller and Auditor General had, in 2009, warned that the Indian Navy’s hardware would be affected if the Centre fails to install special devices for submarines to avert fire accidents,” she noted turning her attention to the poor management of issues pertaining to national security.
“Eighteen Navy personnel lost their lives in the submarine fire accident in Mumbai last year. Recently in another accident, two Navy personnel were killed and the Navy Chief resigned owning moral responsibility for these mishaps. But the UPA government, which refused to adhere to the CAG advice, still clings to the power,” Jayalalithaa said.
“For the past six decades, she said successive Chiefs of Armed Forces have been appealing to successive Prime Ministers in vain for modernising the Forces. But no PM had the time to respond to their requests... It is the opportune time to protect India from a tyrannical regime which is bent upon pursuing anti-people programmes.”
On the occasion, Jayalalithaa introduced K N Ramachandran, party candidate for Sriperumbudur constituency to the electorate even as 3,800 functionaries from DMDK and DMK joined the AIADMK.
Quota for Muslims
Jayalalithaa also reiterated that appropriate action would be taken on the demand for increasing the 3.5 per cent reservation for Muslims based on the recommendations of the Backward Classes Commission.
She said many Muslim organisations had demanded that the existing reservation of 3.5 per cent for their community should be hiked. “The demand has been sent to the State Backward Classes Commission and based on its recommendation, the State government would take appropriate action,” she said, and listed out various welfare schemes for the minority communities.
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