DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Tuesday said while Tamil Nadu was the cradle of State autonomy, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and his cabinet colleagues had become puppets in the hands of the Centre.
In a statement issued on the occasion of the AIADMK government completing a year in office, he said Union Minister K. Venkaiah Naidu presided over a review meeting in the secretariat and the Chief Minister and minister had allowed themselves to be controlled by the Centre.
“They have prostrated before the Centre because they cannot claim to have clean hands. They are not able to get financial assistance to overcome the destruction caused by natural disasters,” he alleged.
Mr Stalin said even the announcements made under Rule 110 of the Assembly Rules were not implemented and the government was not ready to convene the Assembly to present the demand for grants for various departments.
‘Corrupt and inept’
“Every Tamilian wonders how long this corrupt, decadent and inert government will continue. Even those who voted for the AIADMK a year ago are longing for a change,” he claimed.
Mr. Stalin said people were fuming over the inefficiency of the government and the government would be changed through democratic means.
“The rays of sun will spread light on Tamil Nadu now engulfed by darkness. The DMK will stand by the people and win,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S. Ramadoss claimed that the people’s wish was to remove the AIADMK government from power.
Accusing the government of failing to implement any decent schemes in the past year, the PMK leader contended that there was a significant degree of public disenchantment with the current government, a year since it came to power in the State. The AIADMK is interested only in somehow saving the current government, he said.
‘Directionless regime’
Terming the AIADMK government as one that is directionless, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Su. Thirunavukkarasar accused it of putting the future of Tamil Nadu in peril.
“The State has seen three Chief Ministers in the past one year, raising doubts whether it would complete its five-year tenure,” he said.
