MADURAI: Going on a damage control mode, BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan on Sunday said that the party’s national president Amit Shah did not criticise a particular party or person when he said that there was electoral corruption prevailing in the State.
The BJP chief was in Chennai last week for a one-day visit ahead of the next year’s Lok Sabha polls and met a number of politicians and cadres. Addressing the party’s polling booth in-charges, he said that Tamil Nadu figured among those States which were most affected by corruption. He had claimed that only a BJP government would be able to end the prevalence of electoral corruption in the State.
Speaking to the media after garlanding the statue of late chief minister K Kamaraj on his birth anniversary, Tamilisai said that Amit Shah’s statement was misinterpreted.
Underscoring that her party respected all political leaders and parties, she said that BJP ruled in 21 States and cared about people more than Alwarpetti Andavar (probably a veiled dig at MNM leader and actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan).
Congress asks govt to respond to BJP chief’s charges on corruption in Tamil Nadu
Erode: The State government should reply to the charge made by BJP national president Amit Shah that Tamil Nadu is among the most corrupt states in the country, Congress district president Dr Makkal G Rajan said at a meeting of party functionaries here.
“According to BJP State president Thamilisai Soundararajan, there has been no administration in Tamil Nadu in the last 50 years. This means that the State has not had good governance after the time of the Congress governments,” he said. “This is not all. Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan said that terrorist activity was increasing in Tamil Nadu,” Rajan said. It is thus high time for the Centre to dismiss the present government or set up a commission to inquire into the scams that have taken place under it.
Indeed, there is no end to the exploitation of the people under the present government, as is clear from the egg purchase scam, Rajan said and added that instead of answering such charges, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar only said that Amit Shah’s speech was interpreted wrongly by BJP leader H Raja.