Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said on Saturday that the AIADMK betrayed the minorities by supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill when it was introduced in the Rajya Sabha.
Speaking at B.P. Agraharam at Erode (East), where members of the Muslim community live in a large number, the DMK president said that when the BJP government introduced the Bill, which was against the minorities, in the Rajya Sabha, the AIADMK supported it. “If they had not supported the Bill, it would not have gone through. But they [the AIADMK] are making false claims that they had implemented various schemes for the welfare of the minorities,” he said.
When the then Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, was fighting for life in hospital, the party never revealed her health condition. “When former Chief Ministers C.N. Annadurai and M.G. Ramachandran were hospitalised, Ministers made official announcements on their health condition twice a day,” he recalled.
Mr. Stalin said the Kodanad heist-cum-murder case was expedited after the DMK came to power. “After the probe is completed, action will be taken against wrongdoers, whoever they may be.”
At Karungalpalayam, he asked AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami to list the welfare schemes that were implemented during the 10 years of his party rule. “They promised mobile phones for all, Amma mineral water to all houses, essential commodities at subsidised prices, three cent of land to the homeless poor and an education loan waiver for all students. But they did not do anything,” he said.
Concluding his campaign at Periyar Nagar, the Chief Minister said many States were appreciating Tamil Nadu for implementing schemes even when it was facing financial difficulties.
Taking a dig at the AIADMK for lodging a complaint with election officials over his announcement on the monthly honorarium for women heads of families, he said, “You kept asking us what had happened to the scheme; hence, I answered. The announcement is not against the model code of conduct.”
