‘Vote out DMK govt. to save T.N. youth from drug menace’

Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin on Wednesday tore into Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “failure to keep the poll promises” and said the electoral bond scheme was the Himalayan corruption, the biggest scam not only in India but also in the world.

Addressing a public meeting near here to seek votes for INDIA bloc candidates B. Manickam Tagore (Virudhunagar) and Rani Shrikumar (Tenkasi), Mr. Stalin quoted the statement made by Parakala Prabhakar, husband of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Mr. Prabhakar had said in an interview that the electoral bond scheme was the biggest scam in the world. The BJP, which was involved in unprecedented corruption, was using Central agencies like the Directorate of Enforcement, the Income Tax Department, and the Central Bureau of Investigation to cover it up. By making autonomous institutions its political partners, the BJP government had caused a doubt whether the country was being run in accordance with the Constitution.

Quoting the editorial of The Hindu, he said the BJP had encashed several crores of rupees by misusing the raids conducted by Central agencies. He won

CM M.K. Stalin addressing a public meeting near Srivilliputtur in Virudhunagar district on Wednesday.

dered whether the BJP had done anything beneficial to the country.

‘A threat to majority’

Mr. Stalin said the reservation policy, introduced by the Justice Party, got shape through the first constitutional amendment, thanks to the efforts of the Dravidian movement and B.R. Ambedkar. “However, the BJP is the biggest threat to social justice and reservation. The BJP government has not provided the reservation as recommended by the Mandal Commission. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has pointed out that only 3% of the posts of Secretary in the Central government are occupied by people belonging to the Backward Classes and a fewer people of the Scheduled Castes. Is this not a great injustice being done to the majority people belonging to the BCs and the SCs,” he asked.

The BJP was trying to prevent the oppressed classes from climbing the social ladder by introduc

ing the ‘Kula kalvi’ scheme and reservation for the economically weaker section and destroying the dreams of the poor and the middle class through NEET. “The BJP will never accept the BCs, the SCs/ STs, and the MBCs coming up in life,” he said. Hence, the INDIA bloc demanded a castebased census, but the BJP rejected it. “That is why, we have been saying that the BJP is against not only the minorities but also the majority,” he added.

The Centre, which said it was not behind the increasing prices of fuel and gas cylinders in the past, took credit for reducing them ahead of the election. Having increased the price of cylinders from ₹410 to ₹1,103 in 10 years, the BJP thought the people would not see through its drama. Even after failing to keep its promises, the BJP was coming up with an advertisement of “Modi’s guarantee”. “But his poll promises will have no guarantee and warranty,” he added.

The DMK government, led by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, has “failed to check the smuggling and availability of narcotic substances due to its association with drug traffickers”, and must be thrown out of power for the youth to be saved from the drug menace, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami said here on Wednesday.

Speaking at a public meeting, held as part of his election campaign to seek votes for Puthiya Tamilagam’s K. Krishnasamy, the candidate for the Tenkasi (reserved) constituency, Mr. Palaniswami said the DMK’s officebearer Jaffer Sadiq, who was “close to Mr. Stalin and his son”, had liberally donated to the party and the government with the money he had amassed through drug trafficking. After being arrested in connection with the seizure of ₹2,000crore worth narcotic substances in Delhi recently, this nefarious association had come to light, he said.

“If you want to save your children from the threat of drugs, you should not vote for the DMK in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, and eventually, throw the party out of power in the next Assembly election,” Mr. Palaniswami said, challenging Mr. Stalin to speak about the ₹30,000 crore that was allegedly amassed by his son and soninlaw in just a year, according to an alleged audio clip of a Minister that went viral on social media.

The former Chief Minister said that the Sterlite issue became a “major problem” as the DMK government had given its nod for expansion of the Sterlite Copper unit on an outlay of ₹1,500 crore and allotted 86 acres towards the purpose. “If the DMK had not given permission, there would not have been any protest or law and order issue,” Mr. Palaniswami said.

He further criticised the DMK government for firing at farmers who protested seeking a reduction of ₹1 per unit of electricity and unleashing the police on the Maanjolai tea estate workers who took out a procession demanding a wage hike. “Even as people are suffering, Mr. Stalin hiked property tax and power tariff. On the contrary, though the COVID19 pandemic had crippled the AIADMK government’s functioning, we did not increase the tax..,” he added.