CHENNAI: DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues for not responding to the ‘irregularities’ to the tune of Rs 7.5 lakh crore flagged in the Comptroller and Auditor General of India report.
The DMK president, in his second episode of ‘Speaking for India’ podcast, asked: “Have you read what the report says? Did you discuss this in the special session of Parliament? Did you even answer? So far, neither the prime minister nor the union ministers concerned have responded to this. They cannot respond either. That’s the reason why Modi adopts ‘different kinds of politics’ to misdirect people.”
Stalin said people of the country have realised that Modi is working against the poor, backward classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. “This has been proven by the defeat faced by BJP in the recent elections across various states,” he added.
“Safeguarding our beloved India, which stands united in diversity, is a responsibility that rests in the hands of each and every one of us,” Stalin added.
He said even in the Ayodhya project, the CAG report had exposed the BJP’s corruption. “They name all projects with words that cannot even be easily pronounced by common people so that no one can even figure out what’s really going on,” Stalin said sarcastically.
“There is a tourism project (Swadesh Darshan) that invites tourists to all places where Ramayana is said to have taken place. It was claimed to be implemented in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Goa and Telangana. In this project, the CAG has found several irregularities worth millions. This report reveals violations in contracts,” Stalin added.
The CAG report said the UDAN scheme was started in 2016 by allocating Rs 1,089 crore. Out of the 774 routes that were planned, only 7% are operational and the others are inactive.
“For example, in Tamil Nadu, Salem, Thanjavur, Ramnathapuram and Vellore were included in the scheme to provide air services. However, air connectivity has been established only in Salem, and that is also currently not in operation. The CAG report says that out of the total 774 scheduled routes, flights are not operational in 720 routes,” Stalin added.