Terming the constitution of the A.K. Rajan Committee to study the impact of NEET an eyewash, Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami charged the DMK with riding on false promises to power.
Mr. Palaniswami and cadres of the AIADMK staged a protest in front of his residence here on Wednesday, accusing the State government of not fulfilling the promises made during the Assembly elections.
Mr. Palaniswami told presspersons that the DMK government had not made any announcements on fulfilling major poll promises. The promise to reduce the price of petrol by Rs.5 a litre and that of diesel by Rs.4 had not been kept either.
Mr.Palaniswami alleged that people were affected by the anomalies in the calculation of power consumption charges. The AIADMK government had ensured there was no power cut, so that the people in general and the industries and farmers were not affected. The DMK government should take steps to ensure there was no power cut across the State.
In order to divert the attention of the people from its failure to deliver on its promises, the DMK government was registering false cases on former ministers and AIADMK functionaries, he said.
Mr.Palaniswami said he was glad that the State government was not planning to reintroduce lottery, and wanted it to remain firm on this stand.
On the COVID-19 situation, Mr. Palaniswami said the DMK government was only continuing with what the previous regime had done; it had not done anything new.
On the special quota for Vanniyars, Mr. Palaniswami said the AIADMK government had provided such a quota for a majority community considering their request. He demanded that the State government implement caste-based census so that reservation could be provided for all castes based on their population.
Erode Staff Reporter adds:
In Erode, the demonstration was staged at Veerappanchatiram.
Led by former MLAs, K.V. Ramalingam and K.S. Thennarasu, protesters raised slogans against the government for failing to fulfil any of its promises made during the election. “The DMK said that they would scrap the NEET immediately after coming to power. Also, they said that would bring down the price of fuel and LPG cylinders. Believing them, people voted for them. But they failed to keep up their promise and betrayed the people”, they added.
Protesters said that the cost of essential commodities have skyrocketed making it difficult for the poor people to purchase. Also, the cost of construction materials had gone up. But they took no steps to solve the issues, they added. They said that their promises remain only in papers and the people who voted for them were a disappointed lot. Protesters wanted the DMK government to fulfil its promises as students, farmers, workers and all walks of people are facing problems.
Likewise, protests were held at various places in the district.
Special Correspondent adds from Krishnagiri:
In Krishnagiri, the AIADMK cadre launched an eight-point attack on the DMK government and alleged that the promises made by the DMK to come to power were yet to see fruition.
According to the protesters, the DMK failed to revoke NEET even while it promised to have the students of the State exempted from the medical entrance test. The protesters also alleged inaction by the government during the second wave, and condemned the government over the number of COVID-19 deaths.
They also claimed that the DMK stood by and watched while the Karnataka government went ahead with the construction of dam in Mekadatu. The protesters called for an immediate halt to the Mekadatu project.
The protesters also alleged that the DMK was playing vindictive politics by conducting raids against the AIADMK’s former Ministers.
Protests were staged at all panchayat unions and district headquarters in the district.
Similar protests were held in Dharmapuri also.
