TENKASI: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday said the BJP-led Union government, through the Election Commission of India, has hatched a conspiracy to snatch the voting rights of the electorate in Tamil Nadu under the guise of a special intensive revision (SIR) exercise.
“We have seen what happened in Bihar because of this (SIR). Wherever the BJP fears defeat, they even dare to remove voters. They are now trying to test the same formula in Tamil Nadu,” he said while addressing a public meeting in Tenkasi.
Pointing to Kerala joining Tamil Nadu in its fight against SIR, the chief minister said “To decide our next course of action, I have convened an all-party meeting on November 2. I call upon all parties to put aside political differences and take part in it. The foundation of democracy is the right to vote and we will not surrender it under any circumstances. We will defeat the BJP’s attempts to deprive people of their franchise,” Stalin added.
Further, Stalin said AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami was spreading falsehood about paddy procurement. “Palaniswami is spreading falsehood, saying paddy cultivated by farmers was not procured and had rotted. In the past four years, 1.7 crore tonnes of paddy was procured from farmers.
On an average, we procured 42.6 lakh tonnes every year. The procurement was 22.7 lakh tonnes during the previous AIADMK regime. Without even knowing these basic facts, Palaniswami continues to lie. He calls himself a farmer, yet he supported the three farm laws (now repealed) introduced by the BJP-led government. We passed a resolution against them after coming to power,” Stalin explained.
Earlier in the day, Stalin inaugurated Rs 117 crore worth of completed projects, laid foundation stone for Rs 291 crore new projects and distributed welfare assistance to hundreds of beneficiaries. Completed projects include a PHCat Kuruvikulam (Rs 50L), maternity and child care block at Government District Headquarters Hospital, Tenkasi (Rs 22 crore), and District Integrated Public Health Laboratory (Rs 1 crore).
CM checks work on home for girl who shared plight
Tenkasi: CM MK Stalin on Wednesday visited Kazhuneerkulam village to inspect the house being constructed under the Kalaignarin Kanavu Illam Scheme for R Prema, a student who had emotionally shared her family’s plight during the ‘Kalviyil Sirantha Tamil Nadu’ event held in Chennai on September 25.
Stalin had ordered within 24 hours to sanction a new house for Prema’s family under the scheme in her mother Muthulakshmi’s name. The very next day it was sanctioned by collector AK Kamal Kishore. During his visit to Tenkasi for a government function, Stalin personally met Prema’s parents, R Muthulakshmi and S Ramasamy, at their home site and reviewed the progress of the construction.
