In a speech loaded with her clear aspirations towards national leadership, AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa on Thursday called for a change of rule at the Centre, saying that her party would be a constituent of the new government.
In the background of an ‘amicable’ parting of ways by the AIADMK with the Left parties, she made not even a fleeting reference to the failed alliance.
Focussing primarily on the farm sector, the AIADMK leader came down particularly on the Centre’s nod for methane gas exploration in the Cauvery delta. The methane exploration would turn the delta into a “desert.”
“I will not let industry flourish by decimating agriculture,” she said.
She also criticised genetic engineering in food crops, stating that it would take away the farmers’ control over seeds.
Ms. Jayalalithaa said only a government of which AIADMK was a prime constituent would set up the Cauvery River Water Management Board.
Envisioning a new government, she said an AIADMK-constituted government would strengthen the armed forces by increased budgetary allocation and modernisation, roll back the right of oil companies to hike petroleum price and put back the country’s economy on track.
On fishermen issueOn the festering issue of arrests of Indian fishermen, the Chief Minister hit out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa “without raising the issue of their release.”
“The last decade was a wasted decade under the UPA rule and it was time the people hammered it out,” Ms. Jayalalithaa said. To ensure this, the victory for the party should be a resounding one, larger than the one they handed out to her in 2011 Assembly elections, she said.
“Vote to the Lok Sabha all 40 candidates of the AIADMK, ” Ms. Jayalalithaa said campaigning for Nagapattinam candidate K. Gopal.
