PUDUKKOTTAI /SIVAGANGA: Continuing his tirade against the AIADMK-BJP combine, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday accused the Dravidian major of aligning with the saffron party and betraying Tamil Nadu’s interests.
The CM was campaigning for DMK and alliance candidates in Pudukkottai.
“The AIADMK, along with the BJP, has betrayed Tamil Nadu,” Stalin said, alleging that AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has failed to raise key issues concerning the state.
Stalin claimed that the union government leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have consistently pushed for the three-language policy in Tamil Nadu, but Palaniswami has never questioned it. The DMK president asserted that the state would not accept the imposition of Hindi even if Rs 10,000 crore was offered.
Criticising union ministers such as Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan, the CM alleged that attempts are being made to “saffronise” education. The union government has also failed to release the Rs 2,000-crore dues to Tamil Nadu, he added. Stalin also questioned why Palaniswami has not raised concerns over higher budget allocation for Sanskrit compared to Tamil.
On NEET, he said the DMK and the INDIA bloc, along with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, have assured its abolition if voted to power, and questioned whether Palaniswami has ever urged the union government to scrap the exam. Pointing to the rising prices of LPG and its demand, the CM said, “People are asking Modi ji – where is LPG? Many small businesses are shut, and people are struggling and running out of gas.”
Later in the evening, while canvassing in Sivaganga district, the chief minister hit out at PM Modi and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, saying that they had visited Thiruparankundram and Madurai, respectively, but did not go to Keezhadi, which is the Tamilar Thai Madi (Tamil people’s mother lap). He questioned the reason for delaying the release of the Keezhadi excavation report.
Rebutting charges of poor law and order in the state, the CM said his government has never spared anyone involved in offences. “What if I mentioned the status of law and order in the BJP-ruled states,” he said, adding that no one can forget the Hathras gang rape and murder of a teenage girl, or the rally by a BJP minister in favour of the rape accused in Kashmir.
In the states ruled by the BJP, they celebrate the accused, and yet they speak about the law and order situation in TN, the CM said.
Further, the CM said that Palaniswami can’t boast of any achievements during his regime. That’s why he is resorting to personal attacks. In fact, law and order had completely broken down during Palaniswami’s regime, he claimed, adding that on the other hand, under the DMK rule, anyone committing offence or crime – be it a policeman or a politician – is brought to book.
Meanwhile, in an interview to a news agency, the CM alleged that the union government was not really concerned about implementing reservation for women. “If their concerns were genuine, they could have done it right away. Instead of doing so, the BJP-led union government is thinking of using it as a weapon to tackle opposition, and take up the delimitation exercise based on population,” he said.
(With inputs from Chennai)
