CHENNAI: PMK 2. 0agenda is to change the casteist image of the party and demonstrate before the people that it is here to do good for the people of Tamil Nadu. The PMK would do developmental politics, said Anbumani Ramadoss, the new party chief on Saturday.
Addressing the party special general body meeting in the city, he claimed the PMK had all the requisite qualities to govern the state.
It had successfully thwarted laying of the natural gas pipeline through agricultural fields in western Tamil Nadu and monorail project in Chennai. It forced the state to introduce a separate budget for agriculture. He took credit for introduction of ‘samacheer kalvi’ in the state, brining 108 communities under the MBC category and getting 10. 5% internal reservation for Vanniars among others.
“The list of achievements is very long and we have to make the people of Tamil Nadu realise it and accept us,’’ he said, adding that the file on total prohibition would be the first one he would sign if he assumes office as the chief minister.
He said that when he became the youngest cabinet minister of India in 2004, his father had advised him that he should practice corruption-free politics and ensure that even common man gets medical attention on a par with the President of India.
The PMK is the only party which campaigns against climate change and its consequences. He said Tamil Nadu’s comparison should be with Singapore and not with a backward state like Bihar.
He said every party in the state was doing divisive politics in the name of caste and creed. The PMK, on the contrary, was keen on ushering in social justice and development for all, he claimed. Senior Ramadoss said he was standing before the crowd as a proud father and urged the cadres to work towards making his son the chief minister of the state. His advice to the cadres was that they should not waste time by indulging in petty politics and craving for party posts.
“When we first contested the assembly elections alone in 1996, the PMK won four seats. Now, 25 years later, we have just five seats. Who is responsible for this miserable performance?’’ he asked, pointing out that Aam Aadmi, formed in 2012, had won Delhi and Punjab assembly elections. Anbumani’s elevation as party chief would bring about the desired changes within the party, he said. “Our goal is 2026 (assembly elections),” said Ramadoss.
