The Tamil Nadu Minister of Youth Welfare and Sports Development, Udhayanidhi Stalin, said in Salem on Sunday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would not win a single seat in Tamil Nadu, even if Prime Minister Narendra Modi stayed in Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mr. Udhayanidhi, who campaigned for DMK Salem Parliamentary Constituency candidate T.M. Selvaganapathy at Omalur, asked people on the number of times Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Tamil Nadu in the last 10 years ? Mr. Modi is visiting the State several times now only with an eye on elections, he said.
The LPG cylinder price was ₹ 450 a decade ago and it has increased to ₹ 1,200 now. The Prime Minister reduced it by ₹ 100 because of the elections. After the INDIA bloc comes to power, the cylinder price will be reduced to ₹ 500, the toll gates on National Highways in Tamil Nadu will be removed, and the petrol and diesel prices will be reduced to ₹ 75 and ₹ 65 per litre respectively, he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Explaining the election promises for the Omalur Assembly constituency, Mr. Udhayanidhi said that steps would be taken to bring water to lakes by removing encroachments. A perfume factory and sugar mill will be set up in Omalur. The Kadayampatti primary health centre will be upgraded to a taluk hospital, the Kanavaipudur to Yercaud road via Kannapadi will be widened, and a government agriculture college will be set up at Danishpet.
Listing the achievements of the DMK government in the last three years, Mr. Udhayanidhi said that even though the AIADMK regime increased the debts, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin reduced the price of petrol by ₹ 3 a litre and ensured free travel for women in government buses. In Salem district alone, 20 crore trips were made by women under this scheme. In India, only 24% of women go to work after graduation, but in Tamil Nadu, it is 54%. In Salem district, 5.50 lakh women receive ₹ 1,000 monthly under Kalaingar Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam. Under Pudhumai Penn Thittam, ₹ 1,000 is provided to female students, and in Salem alone, over 20,000 students receive this monthly assistance.
The Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme is now implemented in Karnataka and Telangana. The scheme’s success has spread worldwide and the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, said recently that the scheme would be implemented in Canada, he said.
Charging that the AIADMK did not pressurise the BJP in getting exemption from the NEET exam for Tamil Nadu, Mr. Udhayanidhi said that many students, even parents, ended their lives due to NEET. DMK is taking all legal steps to get an exemption, he said.
Later, Mr. Udhayanidhi campaigned for DMK candidate for Erode Parliamentary Constituency K.E. Prakash at Komarapalayam in Namakkal district and at Sathya Nagar in Erode district. He also campaigned for Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (KMDK) candidate for Namakkal Parliamentary Constituency V.S. Matheswaran at Rasipuram in Namakkal district.