DMK president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin on Sunday said Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami should do “introspection” about his performance in the time of COVID-19 pandemic and claimed that even the ruling AIADMK functionaries were laughing behind his back.
The DMK president, in a statement, said if the Chief Minister read the Assembly reports he would realise that it was the DMK which had demanded precautionary and preventive steps to combat the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Mr. Stalin wanted to know the politics behind "sidelining" of Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar with regard to response to COVID-19 epidemic. “Now, the government has converted the Chief Secretary into a spokesperson. Who is doing all these cut-throat politics? Only Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami,” he said.
The Opposition leader said although he made a strong case to wind up the last Assembly session early to allow more time for the government to fight the pandemic, the Chief Minister had rejected the suggestion saying that the disease had not become a danger to Tamil Nadu. “He also said that people would remain without fear only if the Assembly proceedings continues,” Mr. Stalin said.
Alleging that the Chief Minister’s actions had proved that he lacked awareness about the disease, Mr. Stalin said the Chief Minister was driven by the desire that he “should be seen as doing everything.”
Testing kits
While the Chief Minister claimed that there was danger of Tamil Nadu entering stage 3 of pandemic outbreak, the Chief Secretary said it was still in stage 2. “The government is confused and it has confused the people,” he charged. Although Mr. Palaniswami asserted that the State government had placed order for testing kits before Kerala, during his conversation with the Prime Minister he merely said the State required rapid test kits, PPEs, N-95 masks and ventilators. “This clearly shows that the government does not show any urgency when it comes to buying life-saving kits and equipment,” the DMK supremo alleged.
Recalling the Chief Minister’s speech that rapid test kits would be used from April 10, Mr. Stalin said the kits had not arrived so far. “What happened to the promise that lakhs of people can be tested in half-an-hour. I am just asking the Chief Minister who says that everything has been in place since January itself,” he said.
Calling upon the Chief Minister to do his work sincerely, he said politics could be thought of after the pandemic was over. “The government should function effectively. Otherwise, the DMK will make it work,” Mr. Stalin added.
