People decided to elect AIADMK again: Minister

MADURAI

The DMK president M.K. Stalin, who has been telling people to drop grievance petitions in a box placed in his meeting venues, will remain only in the boxes forever as the people have decided to elect the AIADMK again, according to Revenue Minister R.B. Udaykumar.

Speaking to reporters in Thirumangalam near here on Saturday after giving away government welfare assistance to 2,868 beneficiaries valued ₹ 15.57 crore in the presence of Collector T. Anbalagan and others, he said that many cities in Tamil Nadu, especially Tier-2, were witnessing development works.

Be it on Smart City or construction of bridges or widening pathways, the projects were under way at different stages. The government had earmarked funds for these works keeping in mind the likely growth in population among others for the next 20 to 30 years in these cities. He listed out the projects in many cities (Tier-2) and in semi-urban locations.

When such was the scenario, the DMK president had been falsely giving statements that there was no work or development happening in Tamil Nadu.

The critics have been silenced after their predictions went wrong. When Edappadi K Palaniswami took over the reins as Chief Minister, the opponents claimed that it would fall in four days. But, the government has successfully been there for four years. “We are going to be here for the next five years as well,” Mr. Udaykumar said.

Stating that Mr. Stalin will not have the luck to emerge victorious and hence the petitions collected in his "Ungal Thoguthiyil Stalin'' will be under lock and key only. However, the people need not have any apprehensions as Mr. Palaniswami had launched the novel "1100" service for the people, who can register their grievances round-the-clock. This is apart from the CM's Special Grievance Cell, which had redressed 5.30 lakh petitions in the last four-and-a-half-years.

Asked about the delay in getting funds for the AIIMS as charged by the Opposition parties, the Minister clarified that the Central funds were coming in for the AIIMS in Madurai. Admitting that there were some delays, he however, said, it was wrong on the part of the opponents to mislead and misinform the public.

"The people matter to us more than the DMK or others...They (voters) know that the project is on," he asserted.