TIRUCHY: “We are in close relationship with the Union government not for seeking a share in power, but to bring more schemes to Tamil Nadu,” Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said on Tuesday. Taking part in a roadshow seeking support for candidates of the AIADMK-led alliance, Palaniswami said, “Even this morning, I spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to give his consent to the Cauvery-Godavari river-linking scheme. We have already got permission from Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. If the river-linking project materialises, the Cauvery will never go dry in our State.”
Palaniswami introduced the alliance’s nine candidates contesting in Tiruchy district to people and said that under his tenure as CM, not a single development project had been stalled nor any file kept pending for clearance. Flaying DMK leader MK Stalin for spreading lies, Palaniswami, said, “Ours is the only government which wrote off loans of farmers twice in the same tenure. We have successfully implemented various development projects for farmers, apart from the poor and needy. We have opened over 2,000 mini-clinics and provided two-wheelers to women.”
“Several waterbodies across the State were rejuvenated through our Kudimaramathu scheme. We were instrumental in making sure that farmers who suffered losses received insurance claim of over Rs 9,300 crore. My government announced the delta region as a special protected agricultural zone to protect the livelihood of farmers. Stalin is trying to confuse people, but nothing can stop the AIADMK from coming back to power,” he said. Speaking about district-specific projects, he said a barrage was built across the Kollidam river at Mukkombu. “We built 16,000 concrete houses for the poor and needy in the district. We also constructed a bypass road between Thuraiyur and Manachanallur,” he said.