TENKASI/NAGERCOIL/VIRUDHUNAGAR: Refuting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s allegation that late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was disgraced by DMK MLAs in the Assembly in 1989, DMK president MK Stalin on Tuesday said that it was a violation engineered by AIADMK leaders on that day.
He was campaigning in Tenkasi, Nagercoil and Virudhunagar districts for the DMK and its alliance candidates on Tuesday.
In Tenkasi, Stalin said that the PM had spoken at a public meeting without knowing the truth. He continued, “When former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi submitted the State budget in the Assembly (in 1989), only Jayalalithaa and her supporters attempted to stop him. Congress leader Thirunavukkarasar, who was with the late woman leader when the particular incident took place, later agreed that the incident was a drama staged by Jayalalithaa and her supporters.” Stating that the DMK was not against women, Stalin recalled the acid attack on former IAS officer Chandralekha during AIADMK regime.
The opposition leader blamed the BJP-led Union government for not creating two crore jobs and doubling the farmers’ income as promised in their election manifesto. He further said that the DMK government had paid respect to former Chief Minister Kamarajar in multiple ways, whenever it came to power. “Karunanidhi chose a place for Kamarajar’s burial near Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial. During the DMK tenure, a Kamarajar statue was installed in the Chennai corporation office. We also constructed a memorial for Kamarajar in Kanniyakumari,” he said.
During campaigning in Nagercoil, the DMK president appealed to the gathering to wear masks as he noticed that many were not wearing masks. He also recalled that he had recently taken Covid vaccine.
Coming down heavily on Kanniyakumari Assembly constituency AIADMK candidate Thalavai Sundaram and Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha byelection BJP candidate Pon Radhakrishnan, Stalin said Radhakrishnan had not fulfilled the promises he made during 2014 elections. He said Thalavai Sundaram had been sidelined by Jayalalithaa.
He reaffirmed that they would not given permission for transshipment port near Kanniyakumari, if DMK was elected to power. Recalling that PM Modi had assured in 2014 to take steps to protect (Tamil) fishermen, Stalin said the attacks on the fishermen still continued. He also said that the DMK would take all steps to protect the rights of fishermen if the party was elected to power. As an ambulance was rushing through the campaign way, Stalin asked the gathering to give way for the vehicle.
Stalin was also campaigning at Rajapalayam in Nagercoil district on Tuesday night. While canvassing votes here, he assured that a resolution would be passed against farm laws on a priority basis after coming to power. Taking a jibe at the Minister for Milk and Dairy Development KT Rajenthra Bhalaji, who is contesting at the Rajapalayam constituency, Stalin said the minister’s statements had an underlying violence in them, which was unbecoming of a minister.
He questioned if such a person should be made an MLA. He also questioned if the Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami could become a farmer by just wearing a green towel. Referring to PM Modi’s remarks at Dharapuram, where he said a DMK government would be unsafe for women, Stalin questioned if the PM was aware of Pollachi sexual harassment issue. He also cited a woman IPS officer’s sexual harassment allegations against a special DGP as an example of how women are unsafe under the current regime.