NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was Wednesday pilloried by her political rivals after she carpet-bombed Delhi and Chennai with four full-page advertisements in almost every newspaper listing her government's year-long achievements.
"It is alright to bring out advertisements if you have achieved something. Don't know what the chief minister (Jayalalithaa) has achieved in a year," DMK's Rajya Sabha Member Kanimozhi told reporters outside parliament.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) too hit out at Jayalalithaa, saying such acts had become part of political culture.
"Not only Jayalalithaa but Mamata Banerjee is also doing the same and it has now become the latest culture of people in power to waste people's money, to brighten his or her image," CPI leader Gurudas Gupta fumed.
"The government in Tamil Nadu should decide how much funds they should spend on ads. Probably the people in Tamil Nadu will not be reading as it is in English and other languages," Ambika Soni, Information and Broadcasting Minister, said.
The state government's advertisement, 'The Vision for Tamil Nadu for 2023', promises to transform Tamil Nadu into one of the country's most prosperous and progressive states with high literacy levels and no poverty.
The advertisement also claims Tamil Nadu to be the only state in the country where the government has distributed 'priceless' freebies including rice, mixer-grinders, electric fans and footwear to its people on its own.