AIADMK leader and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday said that she stood by the promises made in her party’s election manifesto and would certainly deliver on them if returned to power.
Addressing a public meeting here, Ms. Jayalalithaa pointed out that Mr. Karunanidhi was saying that the AIADMK election manifesto was an attempt to fool the people while his son M.K. Stalin goes around the town claiming that it was a photo copy of the DMK programmes.
Manifesto
“Let them reconcile their contradictions first and then let them comment on our promises,” she remarked, which was well received by the enthusiastic crowd.
Referring to the DMDK-PWF-TMC combine and the PMK, Ms. Jayalalithaa noted that their leaders too had cast doubts over the implementation of the manifesto. “They initially alleged that I delayed the release of the document due to fear of other parties. After the manifesto was released, they were saying that the schemes were not feasible and could not be implemented.
“I will think numerous times before I give [my] word. And when I promise something, I will stand by it till the very end and you all know that well. I will implement what all I have promised in the AIADMK election manifesto,” Ms. Jayalalithaa thundered.
She slammed Mr. Karunanidhi for “letting down” Tamil Nadu and delta ryots on the vital Cauvery issue from the beginning. She alleged that Mr. Karunanidhi never made public the contents of the discussions he had with the Union Water Resources Minister and the Karnataka PWD Minister in 1968.
In 1970, as Chief Minister he allowed Karnataka to construct dams across the river. In 1971, a suit was filed by the State in Supreme Court on the Cauvery water sharing issue. For his personal gains, Mr. Karunanidhi withdrew the case under pressure from Indira Gandhi, Ms. Jayalalithaa said.
While Mr. Karunanidhi had always sacrificed the interests of delta farmers at the altar of his personal gains, she acted as their saviour in times of crisis, Ms. Jayalalilthaa claimed.
Methane project
The Chief Minister observed that it was the former Union Minister T.R. Baalu who sowed the seeds of methane extraction in 1996. It was the DMK-inclusive UPA regime that allowed the project in 2010.
On January 4, 2011, an MoU was signed between the DMK regime and M/S Great Eastern Energy Corporation Limited for methane exploration experiments in the delta. But after the AIADMK came to power, I understood the sentiments of the delta people against the methane project and scrapped the MoU, which forced the company to leave the State.
“It is only because of the AIADMK that you farmers are able to live peacefully without the fear of methane gas extraction project affecting your livelihoods,” she said.
Ms. Jayalalithaa solicited support for AIADMK candidates in the Assembly elections to continue the welfare benefits and development schemes.
