CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday led a massive procession towards Raj Bhavan raising slogans against the ruling DMK government for its failure to protect the people from illicit liquor and other law and order issues in the state.
The rally culminated at the Raj Bhavan and a 10-member AIADMK delegation led by Palaniswami submitted a memorandum to Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi at Raj Bhavan against the DMK government over the recent hooch tragedy.
Talking to reporters after meeting the governor at the Raj Bhavan, Palaniswami gave a detailed account of the recent law and order issues, including the hooch tragedy where 23 people were killed in Villupuram and Chengalpattu districts. He also referred to the death of two more persons in Thanjavur after consuming TASMAC liquor and demanded that the postmortem on their bodies should be performed in the JIPMER hospital to bring out the truth.
When a scribe pointed out that he had almost repeated the allegations already made by BJP state president K Annamalai, the AIADMK leader said, "You (media) should see against whom the charges are levelled. He came across these issues through print and media and sought action against them." Palaniswami said.
Traffic came to a standstill in Guindy, Saidapet, Little Mount and a few other places in the city due to the procession. Hundreds of AIADMK workers parked their vehicles on the roadsides, causing heavier traffic disruptions.
Office-goers, workers and the public were affected and were stranded on the road for more than three hours. Asked about this, Palaniswami said, "We have already informed the police and adhered to the guidelines issued by the police. It is the responsibility of the police to regulate the crowd."
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday informed party district secretaries about his plans to intensify party activities, beginning with taking out a procession to Raj Bhavan to file a memorandum against the DMK.