TENKASI/TIRUNELVELI: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Edappadi K Palaniswami has urged AIADMK functionaries to prove the party’s strong presence in the State’s rural regions by winning maximum posts in the upcoming rural local body elections in nine districts.
Addressing party meetings in Sankarankovil and Tirunelveli on Friday, Palaniswami said, “In the last Assembly polls, we received more votes from the rural areas than urban parts of the State. The votes from villages are ready for the AIADMK, similar to how the paddy crops are ready for harvest. Our functionaries just have to go there and harvest them. We should also not become apathetic. We lost Assembly seats in Tenkasi district by narrow margins. If only we got one additional vote from each booth in Tenkasi constituency, we could have won there.”
The former Chief Minister also exhorted functionaries to resolve drinking water, lighting, garbage collection and sewage issues after they win the elections. Claiming that the DMK had devised fraudulent plans to win the civic polls, Palaniswami said, “I heard one DMK district secretary had threatened AIADMK functionaries.
Officials were threatened during the filing of nomination. AIADMK booth agents should be careful during the election process. Though the DMK gave people 525 promises to win the Assembly polls, they have managed to fulfil only two of them. Also, they introduced several complicated rules for the public to avail benefits of the loan waiver scheme.”
“The DMK ridiculed me when I distributed free country chicken to villagers. But, I went ahead with my decision, as I myself reared country chicken in Chennai when I was the Chief Minister,” he further said.