Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) treasurer M.K. Stalin on Wednesday accused the incumbent All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government of having turned Madurai into a haven for hooligans.
Doling out statistics pertaining to the district since the AIADMK assumed power in the State in 2011, he said a total of 198 people had been murdered and 3,220 sovereigns of jewellery stolen.
Mr. Stalin was addressing a public meeting organised by the Madurai district unit of the party to celebrate the 89th birthday of its president M. Karunanidhi and to hand over funds to the tune of Rs.2.34 crore to the party high command for facing the next Parliamentary elections.
He charged Chief Minister Jayalalithaa with misusing Rule 110 of the Tamil Nadu Assembly to make regular announcements.
The Chief Minister was using the Rule at the drop of a hat though as per procedure it must be used only raise issues that require the urgent attention of the Assembly, he said.
"In the last two months alone, she has used the Rule on 109 occasions. But when we (DMK) were in power between 2007 and 2011, the rule was used only on 46 occasions during our entire tenure of five years. Ms. Jayalalithaa has actually scored a century in using the Rule," he said.
The DMK treasurer took a dig at Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and a few other parties for not reacting to a submission made by the Tamil Nadu Government in the Supreme Court against the implementation of the Sethu Samudram Shipping Channel Project.
"Why is MDMK’s Vaiko maintaining silence over the issue? Why does he not have the guts to question Jayalalithaa? Probably he does not want to rub the AIADMK on the wrong side in the fond hope of getting a seat or two in the next Parliamentary election," Mr. Stalin said.
Pointing out that the power crisis had only worsened since the AIADMK assumed power, he said: "Jayalalithaa’s government has plunged the State into darkness. The situation is so bad that we are now facing 18 to 20 hours of power cuts as against two hours during DMK rule."
Madurai district unit office-bearers and former ministers attended the public meeting except Mr. Stalin’s older brother and the party’s south zone organising secretary M.K. Alagiri, who was conspicuously absent despite being in station.
