The Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK co-coordinator, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, on Wednesday asked the police and government officials to work in the public interest and not for the ruling DMK. He made the remark while addressing party cadre at a meeting held to introduce the AIADMK’s candidates for the Vellore Corporation elections. The party has put up candidates in all 60 wards.
Mr. Palaniswami said the police and government officials should act in a “balanced manner” as they did during the AIADMK’s regime for a decade. “I was also a Chief Minister. If you [police and government officials] work in a democratic manner, you will be honoured when we [AIADMK] return to power. Otherwise, you will be punished,” he said. Terming the DMK regime corrupt and inefficient, he said the DMK had not fulfilled most of its major poll promises, including a ₹1,000 monthly allowance for each family; an education loan waiver; an LPG gas subsidy of ₹100; and a reduction in petrol and diesel prices by ₹5.
With regard to the gold loan waiver scheme [one of the poll promises of the DMK], he said that of a total of 48 lakh customers who availed themselves of gold loans of up to five sovereigns, the DMK government had waived the loans of only 13 lakh customers who pledged their gold jewellery in cooperative societies and public sector banks. As a result, the remaining 35 lakh customers were paying an annual interest of ₹12,000 on their loans. “Mr. Stalin claims the DMK has fulfilled 70% of its 525 poll promises. Has the DMK government fulfilled 400 poll promises?” Mr. Palaniswami asked.
On NEET, the AIADMK leader said his government had introduced the 7.5% internal reservation to help poor students realise their dream of pursuing medical education. A total of 541 students, mostly from villages, benefited from the AIADMK’s initiative. Besides providing internal reservation for rural students, hisgovernment took steps to bear their expenses. This was a measure to protect social justice. The DMK was talking about social justice, but it was the AIADMK that put it in action, he said.
