VILLUPURAM/CHENNAI: Defying a government circular that denied permission to conduct grama sabha meetings, DMK chief MK Stalin spoke at a ‘makkal sabha’ meeting held at Marakanam in Villupuram on Friday. Quoting an old Tamil adage, ‘One cannot stop a wedding by putting away a comb of the bride or groom,’ Stalin said the government order was something similar to that. He also added that meetings cannot be stopped even by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The DMK has been conducting grama sabha meetings from Wednesday, as a run-up to upcoming polls. However, the government, on Thursday, issued an order saying that it violates the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994. The government also warned of action against those conducting political meetings under the guise of grama sabha meetings.
“The DMK did not want to create of a furore over the issue. So, we had renamed it ‘Makkal Sabha.’ So far, over 35,000 people have attended the meetings in person and two crore participants watched it online. It is the DMK which had insisted that the State provide corona relief amount to people, scrap garbage tax and withdraw Class X board exams,” Stalin said.
Meanwhile, the DMK on Friday urged the government to withdraw the order sent to Collectors that district administrations should not give permission to conduct grama sabha meetings in villages. DMK organising secretary and Rajya Sabha MP RS Bharathi on Friday submitted a representation to Hans Raj Verma, Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department.
He said the order sent to Collectors is an exercise of oppression and suppression of freedom of speech and expression and amounts to interference with the duties and responsibilities of a responsible opposition party. “No one, including the government, has the authority to prevent the political parties or the public from conducting meetings in a peaceful manner to express their views against the ruling party, as it is a fundamental right,” he said.