CHENNAI: Countering the charges levelled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last two days, DMK treasurer TR Baalu said, “By praising former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, Modi is trying to garner votes in Tamil Nadu. This is sufficient to show that he has nothing on his own to claim credit of,” he said.
In a lengthy statement, Baalu recalled during the 2016 Assembly election when Jayalalithaa was in power, Modi, in Hosur, had charged that corruption was going unabated in Tamil Nadu. “Now, Modi has taken a U-turn in Palladam,” he said.
Baalu said the prime minister is angry at the DMK and its president MK Stalin as “he was instrumental in forming the INDIA bloc by uniting all opposition parties at a time when Modi was thinking that there was no political rival for him”.
Referring to the remark of Modi that the DMK is eclipsing the achievements of his government, Baalu said, “It was the BJP government that ruined the knitwear industry in Tiruppur by favouring Bangladesh.” Further, the PM said the DMK did nothing for TN when it was part of the Congress-led UPA.
“Had the PM asked the agencies, they would have given a long list of schemes brought to TN when the DMK was part of the UPA. BJP announced only one AIIMS for TN in 2015. But still, the land allotted for the facility remains empty,” he said.
“PM has not allotted a single paisa from the NDRF to rain-hit southern districts. Now how can you visit Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli? When TN gives `1, the Modi government returns only 29 paise. You have reminded us of Tirunelveli halwa. The people will offer ‘halwa’ (disappointment) to you (Modi) in the Lok Sabha election,” Baalu added.