Seeking to dismiss the BJP as an unworthy rival in the Lok Sabha poll, DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday said it was good that the Leader of the Opposition, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, “has at least now realised that the competition is between the DMK and the AIADMK in the State, but not with the BJP”.
This was evident during Mr. Palaniswami’s first election campaign event of the season in Tiruchi recently, he said.
At the same time, he did not spare the AIADMK leader from criticism. Speaking at the INDIA bloc’s public meeting near Ettayapuram in Thoothukudi, he said that though Mr. Palaniswami was claiming to have exited the BJP-led NDA, he had not uttered a single word against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Listing examples of the “silent spectator” approach of Mr. Palaniswami to the “injustices” rendered to the Tamil people by the BJP government at the Centre, he said, “The biggest injustice done to the people of Thoothukudi was the killing of 13 people in the anti-Sterlite protest. “Without hesitating even for a second, Mr. Palaniswami told the media that he was not aware of the shooting, and he knew about it only after watching it on television,” the DMK leader said.
Mr. Palaniswami should realise that the people will never forget the unfair treatment they received during the erstwhile AIADMK regime, he said.
“Mr. Modi, who frequently criticises the DMK government, is equally dangerous. He promised me during the floods in Tamil Nadu that he would extend his support by disbursing funds once Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman submits a report after assessing the damage. But we did not receive a single rupee out of the ₹37,000 crore we had sought,” he said.
Criticising the frequent visits of Mr. Modi to Tamil Nadu, Mr. Stalin said he would only visit the State when there was a specific purpose. “Many promises like transforming Rameswaram into a tourist hub and connecting it with Dhanushkodi remain on paper. Though he is heartily announces projects to lure public, his willingness to implement them is still a far cry,” he claimed.
“Mr. Modi came to power saying he would protect fishermen from attacks, but after he came to power, such attacks have gone up,” he claimed.
Mr. Stalin wondered whether Mr. Modi would remain silent if the Pakistani Army attacked Indian fishermen. “Why have different approaches to people of the same country,” he asked.
“It was the DMK government that corrected all the mistakes committed by the previous government. We did everything to provide compensation to the victims of the Thoothukudi violence,” Mr. Stalin said.
“We did not stop there. We also presented all the facts to the Supreme Court, which paved the way for the shutting down of the Sterlite copper plant permanently,” he added.
Mr. Palaniswami, “who betrayed Tamil people by falling at the feet of Mr. Modi”, failed to ask questions when the Centre implemented projects that were against the welfare of the State, he said.
“It has been only three years since we came to power, and we have already brought in several schemes. Most importantly, the VinFast electric car plant, for which I laid the foundation recently, will provide employment to the people of both Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram districts,” he said.
“I declared during the 2019 election campaign that the then candidate for the Thoothukudi Lok Sabha seat, Kanimozhi, will do her best to serve the people. People witnessed it during the recent flood-related works,” he said.
This was done despite receiving no funds from the Central Government. “She did not just speak for the people of the district in the parliament, but for the people of whole state and the nation,” Mr. Stalin said.
Reiterating their party’s decades’ long connection with the Indian Union Muslim League, he said, it was due to DMK’s work for the welfare of the Muslims that has kept the relation with IUML intact.
Party leaders and Ministers S. Regupathy, KKSSR Ramachandran, Anitha S. Radhakrishnan, Raja Kannappan Thangam Thennarasu, Geetha Jeevan, Kanimozhi, Navas Kani, former MLA Karunas, among others were present during the event.
Earlier, Mr. Stalin canvassed votes at a market.
