AIADMK co-coordinator and Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Tuesday charged that DMK president was rattled by the AIADMK’s “mega alliance formed for the Lok Sabha elections and Assembly bypolls.
Addressing a rally here, where BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan is contesting as the NDA candidate, he said that all the parties which won in Tamil Nadu during the previous Lok Sabha polls were on his side. “Mr. Stalin does not know what he is speaking in election rallies,” he said. On the Sterlite issue, Mr. Palaniswami said that the erstwhile DMK government had granted approval for the expansion of the plant, when Mr. Stalin was the Minister of Industries.
In 2010, the Madras High Court ordered closure of the plant. The DMK could have ensured its permanent closure, he said. “The Supreme Court gave the interim order to reopen the plant citing submissions made by the DMK government in favour of the plant in the High Court,” he alleged.
Mr. Palaniswami said the Udangudi Supercritical Thermal Power Station, which has a capacity of 2x660MW, would be functional by 2020-21. According to him, 3,000 tanks had been desilted under the kudimaramathu scheme and check dams constructed at a cost of ₹1,000 crore across channels and rivers.
“A total of 10 lakh people will get employment, including 5 lakh jobs directly, through the Global Investors Meet conducted in January,” he claimed.
Recalling his government’s achievements, he said a fish landing centre was constructed at Tharuvaikulam at a cost of ₹16.25 crore, and memorials were ordered to be built for Kattabomman and Sivanthi Adithanar.
“The Tamirabarani-Karumeniar-Nambiar river interlinking project is happening at a fast pace,” he added.
Thirty-one projects were taken up under the Smart Cities project at a cost of ₹1,075 crore, while 18 of them with a project cost of ₹435 crore were under way. “A total of ₹322 crore has been given as crop insurance to 1.33 lakh farmers,” he said.
He said the fourth pipeline scheme in Thoothukudi, created at an outlay of ₹282 crore, had started functioning. The land required for expansion of the Thoothukudi airport was given by the government, he added.
Ms. Tamilisai said she had a detailed plan and vision for the development of Thoothukudi, and that the ‘Lotus’ (party symbol), which is found in freshwater, would also bloom in seawater.
