MADURAI/VIRUDHUNAGAR: AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday said that DMK MPs had failed to take the issue of Madurai AIIMS to the parliament. Palaniswami toured Virudhunagar and Madurai as part of his canvassing trail for the Lok Sabha election.
While canvassing for Dr P Saravanan, Palaniswami said the foundation stone was laid for Madurai AIIMS in 2019, during AIADMK's tenure. He said, Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin could have taken up the issue at the parliament to expedite works on the project, like the AIADMK government had done for the Cauvery issue.
"DMK did not even fulfil 10% of its 520 election promises that it made, including waving off educational loans and cancellation of NEET. In fact, NEET issue has been DMK's poll promise since 2019. On the other hand, the AIADMK secured an order against the test. Once the AIADMK comes to power, we will reveal all the corrupt practices of the DMK government," said Palaniswami.
In Virudhunagar, Palaniswami canvassed for DMDK candidate Vijaya Prabakaran. He said that despite having 38 MPs in the parliament, the DMK hasn't taken any efforts to protect the cracker business in Sivakasi. The AIADMK leader recalled his time as the chief minister, and claimed that the cracker manufacturers in Sivakasi sought him out, as the party tried its best to revoke bans on the cracker industry.
The leader maintained that the AIADMK is not in an illicit relationship with the BJP. Reacting to CM MK Stalin's recent remarks on himot being critical of Governor RN Ravi's actions, Palaniswami said that when DMK was in the opposition, they would submit petitions to the governor accusing AIADMK of engaging in corruption. "Those days, the governor was viewed as a good person by the DMK. Now that the governor is questioning their misdeeds, he is seen as an evil person," Palaniswami said. Further noting that the DMK was never brought to book despite AIADMK's petitions, Palaniswami said that the governor has to be neutral.