Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday alleged DMK president M.K. Stalin was visiting villages [as part his ‘Ooratchi Sabhai’ road show] only with an eye on the Lok Sabha elections. He asked how many villages Mr. Stalin had visited when the latter was Minister for Local Administration during 2006-11.
Speaking after distributing welfare assistance and inaugurating and laying the foundation stone for new projects to the tune of ₹138 crore at Magudanchavadi in his native Salem district on Wednesday, Mr. Palaniswami said the AIADMK government was implementing schemes both for the rural and urban people after knowing their needs.
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Mr. Palaniswami claimed that when Mr. Stalin was in power, he neither met the villagers nor implemented any projects for them. “Even in the past three years, he did not meet villagers to know their problems. But keeping in mind the election, he is conducting the ‘grama sabha’ meetings to earn publicity,” he charged.
The Chief Minister said people were aware of it and added that no political leaders could cheat them. “People know who will serve them,” he added.
Mr. Palaniswami said the traffic volume on the four-lane Salem-Chengapalli Nation Highway 544 was very high and the Central government had sanctioned ₹1,937 crore for widening the 103 km stretch to eight lanes.
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Attempts to spread misleading information by the Opposition parties would be thwarted with the support of the people, he said.
He laid the foundation stones for construction of two bridges at an investment of ₹90 crore at Ariyanoor and Magudanchavadi and also distributed welfare assistance to 3,816 beneficiaries to the tune of ₹7.25 crore.
Minister for Social Welfare and Nutritious Noon Meal Programme V. Saroja, MLAs, MPs and Collector Rohini R. Bhajibhakare were among those who attended.