DMK president M.K. Stalin on Thursday blamed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government for failing to fulfil all its promises.
Addressing an election rally to seek votes for Su. Venkatesan, the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance’s CPI-M candidate for Madurai parliament constituency, Mr. Stalin alleged that the Union government was not keen on setting up All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Thoppur as promised.
‘Funds not released’
Stating that after being in power for five years, Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone for the hospital only recently, keeping in elections in mind, he alleged that the government, however, had not released a single rupee of the budgeted amount yet for the project.
“The situation is similar in all the States where AIIMS is proposed. Even in Uttar Pradesh, the Union government has allocated only ₹98 crore of the ₹200 crore promised. If that is the case in BJP-ruled U.P., how can the government be expected to release money for Tamil Nadu,” he asked.
He said that while Mr. Modi promised two crore new jobs every year before coming to power in 2014, the unemployment rate in the country was now at its highest in 45 years. “Similarly, Modi promised Smart Cities. Has it become a reality in any of the cities?” he asked. He also strongly criticised the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu.
Contrary to the performance of the BJP, he claimed that the Congress and the DMK always delivered on their promises. He highlighted the countrywide waiver of farm loans during the tenure of United Progressive Alliance government led by the Congress and in Tamil Nadu in 2006 by the DMK.
He said that similarly the ₹72,000 minimum income guarantee scheme announced now by Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be implemented if the alliance led by Congress formed government at the Centre. Appealing to the public to vote for Mr. Venkatesan, the Sahitya Akademi award-winning author, Mr. Stalin said that the author was one of the first persons to voice the need for continuing archaeological excavations at Keezhadi.
CPI (M) State secretary K. Balakrishnan appealed to the voters to support the DMK-led alliance in all the constituencies.
