Meagre Rs 276 cr, proof of BJP’s vengefulness, says CM

TNCC chief calls it step-motherly treatment towards state

CHENNAI: Unhappy with what seemed to be a paltry allocation by the Union government to Tamil Nadu for flood relief assistance, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday said that the people of Tamil Nadu were witness to the vengeful actions of the BJP against the state.

Tamil Nadu demanded Rs 37,907 crore as flood relief assistance for the devastation caused by Cyclone Michaung, but the Centre has now allocated Rs 276 crore as flood relief, the CM said, in a message posted on his ‘X’ page.

Pointing out that the Tamil Nadu government has so far spent Rs 2,477 crore from the State Disaster Fund for immediate relief and rehabilitation, the CM said that the BJP led Union government has announced only Rs 276 crore now and that too after ‘we’ approached the Supreme Court. “Our people are witness to every vengeful act of the Union BJP government, which has denied both funds and justice to Tamil Nadu,” Stalin added.

Echoing the views of the CM, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K Selvaperunthagai said that the flood relief assistance announced by the Union Home Ministry was proof that PM Modi does not have sympathy for the plight of Tamil Nadu people or care about their livelihood. Condemning the BJP for poor fund allocation, Selvaperunthagai, in a statement, said that the act of the BJP demonstrated its step motherly treatment towards Tamil Nadu and it’s refusal to provide flood relief assistance to the state. Recalling an earlier statement of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that there was no precedence to declare the deluge in Tamil Nadu as a national disaster, the TNCC chief said that the Minister had only rubbed salt into the wounds of the flood affected Tamil Nadu people.