AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, said both the BJP and the DMK government had failed to fulfil their poll promises, and condemned both parties for “increased burdens placed on the people”.
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Addressing mediapersons at his residence in Nedunchalai Nagar in Salem, he said of the 520 promises that DMK made during the 2021 Assembly elections, it had fulfilled less than 10%. “But Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, during his election campaigns, claims that he has fulfilled 98% of the promises which is a blatant lie,” he said. River water sharing, the drug menace, the increase in prices of essential commodities, lack of job opportunities, hikes in electricity charges and property taxes have all burdened people, he pointed out.
Mr. Palaniswami said the BJP too, had failed to fulfill many of the promises it made during the 2019 Parliamentary election. He said when the BJP came to power in 2014, the price of petrol and diesel was ₹74 and ₹55 a litre respectively, while the price of crude oil was $105 a barrel. “But now, the price of crude oil is $86 a barrel whereas petrol and diesel are being sold for ₹102 and ₹94 a litre,” he said and added, “The Central government has increased taxes on fuel and has burdened the people.”
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The AIADMK leader said the Cauvery river was a lifeline for people in 20 districts in Tamil Nadu, and condemned the DMK government for failing to get the State’s share of water every month from Karnataka. He said the BJP was in power in Karnataka earlier, and now the Congress was in power, but both the national parties had refused to give water to T.N. and also wanted the Mekedatu dam to be constructed. “But Mr. Stalin has failed to even condemn Karnataka fearing that it would create problems within the INDIA bloc,” he said. “Mr. Stalin did not think about the livelihood of people; he only wanted the alliance to be intact,” he charged.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for visiting the State eight times for election campaigns, Mr. Palaniswami said, “Not only Mr. Modi, but many Union Ministers have visited the State only for the elections. If each Union Minister had inaugurated projects during their visit, the State would have been even more developed,” he said and added, “Their only goal is to get votes and hence, their visits serves no purpose.”
The former Chief Minister also said the State was facing a serious power shortage and wanted the government to take adequate steps to prevent power cuts. “It is a known fact that whenever the DMK comes to power, power cuts happen,” he said.