Tamil Nadu will witness a new dawn only when the current government headed by Edappadi K Palaniswami is removed, R.K. Nagar MLA and rebel AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran said here on Friday.
Launching his State-wide ‘Meet-the-People’ campaign at Cholapuram, Mr. Dhinakaran heaped praise on former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, saying she understood the problems facing the farmers in the delta districts very well, and made efforts to help them get justice through the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
But Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, he alleged, had surrendered all the rights of the State. Worse still, he was now awaiting information so as to set up a meeting with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and plead with him for water, even as the standing paddy crops were wilting for want of water.
This was in contrast to the situation when Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister, as she fought for securing and safeguarding the rights of the State, he contended.
Claiming that the AIADMK government was acting as the shadow of the Central government, Mr. Dhinakaran said that while Jayalalithaa had opposed, and never allowed, “anti-people, anti-farmer schemes” such as the hydrocarbon and the coal bed methane projects in the delta region, the Palaniswami-led government had meekly surrendered to the Centre. There was no security for the farmers under this government, and the people were aghast at the way it was functioning, he claimed.
“I have launched the Meet-the-People programme only to highlight the failures and the anti-people activities of the present regime. Only when this administration is replaced, will the State witness a new dawn. Then, I will return to thank you all,” Mr. Dhinakaran said while addressing the public.
“The people of Tamil Nadu are confident that whenever the election is held, it will return a government headed by AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala,” he claimed, adding, “That belief of the electorate was the reason behind my victory in the R.K. Nagar byelection.”
