CHENNAI: Leaders of both the Left parties in the State Assembly on Thursday reiterated their commitment to the ideology and policies of the People Welfare Alliance (PWA) while attacking both the Dravidian majors - DMK and AIADMK - for their failure on various issues. Whenever the left leaders raised their voice in support of PWA, there were peals of laughter from the Treasury Benches.
CPM MLA K Balabharathi, during the discussion on the interim budget, spoke about the Athikadavu-Avinashi project and said despite the Dravidian parties ruling the State for the past five decades, they had failed to implement this project. The PWA has put forth a clear cut policy for irrigation, she added.
Charging the DMK and AIADMK governments with failure to contain the rise in prices of essential commodities, Balabharathi said the PWA had evolved a comprehensive plan for containing price rise.
She urged the AIADMK government to enforce prohibition in the interest of the women. “If you fail to do so, the PWA will enforce prohibition, after coming to power,” she asserted.
Referring to the overall debt burden of the State, pointed out that this had been going up during the regimes of DMK and AIADMK and said the PWA would set it right. “We don’t say this with a view to grab power. Such an alternative view has become the need of the hour in Tamil Nadu now,” she said.
M Gunasekaran (CPI) said for the first time in Tamil Nadu, four parties had come together and formed the PWA purely on the basis of their policies. “We, the Left parties had aligned with many parties in the past. But all those were seat-adjustments and not for principles and ideology,” he said.
Countering, Finance Minister O Panneerselvam said “you are traversing a path that leads to nowhere.” To this, Balabharathi quipped: “you (AIADMK) ride on a mud horse (*mankudirai*). It won’t take you ashore.”