Lok Sabha polls | DMK government failed to control price rise: Edappadi Palaniswami

The AIADMK leader said both the Central and T.N. governments were ‘anti-people’; he called the DMK a ‘fountainhead of corruption’ and said it was because of the rise in power tariffs, food and construction material prices that people were suffering

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami campaigning for his party’s candidate E. Rajasekar for the Kancheepuram Lok Sabha constituency | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The hike in the electricity tariff by the DMK government has severely hit the powerloom sector, especially during peak hours, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami charged on Monday, April 15, 2024. The handloom sector was also severely hit, but the Central and State governments have not helped, he said, while campaigning for AIADMK’s candidate E. Rajasekar in the Kancheepuram Lok Sabha constituency.

Mr. Palaniswami said that if elected, the AIADMK candidate would speak about the hardships of the loom industry in Parliament. He said the BJP’s election manifesto did not even mention the handloom sector, as the party does not care about weavers.

The prices of various food items and construction materials too have risen, but the DMK government has not only failed to control them but has increased among others, the electricity tariff that has affected the people severely, Mr. Palaniswami said.

Other industries were severely affected by the hike in power tariff and residential units were hit too, he said. “If the DMK comes to power, the electricity tariff will go up again,” he claimed. He also criticised the power cuts during the DMK regime and said that there was uninterrupted supply during the erstwhile AIADMK government.

While there was no employment and thereby no income, the expenditure kept rising and the DMK government had failed to control the price rise, Mr. Palaniswami charged. Due to the rise in prices of construction materials, the poor and the middle-class were not able to build their houses, he claimed.

Pointing out that Kancheepuram was the birthplace of Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai, Mr. Palaniswami said his party was named after the late leader and the party flag too, featured him. While Annadurai’s dream was fulfilled by late AIADMK founder and former CM M.G. Ramachandran, the latter’s dream was fulfilled by former CM Jayalalithaa, he said. “The AIADMK government has fufilled the dreams of all these three leaders,” Mr. Palaniswami said. Though these three late leaders did not leave behind an heir, the AIADMK was their heir, he added.

It was during the erstwhile AIADMK regime that the Kudimaramathu scheme was launched at Manimangalam in Kancheepuram district, he recalled and observed that the deity Athivaradar was also brought out from the temple tank during his tenure.

Mr. Palaniswami also touched upon what he said was the deteriorating law and order situation, the illegal sale of banned drugs and highlighted the menace of illicit liquor causing the loss of human lives. Charging that DMK meant “corruption” and vice versa, Mr. Palaniswami alleged that the DMK was the “fountainhead of corruption”, Mr. Palaniswami recalled the 2G spectrum case (all accused since acquitted) as well.

Blaming the Central and State governments for the rise in prices in various commodities, including fuel, Mr. Palaniswami termed them “anti-people” and called upon the electorate to teach a befitting lesson to them in the April 19 Lok Sabha polls.