Pledging to pull back the State from the abyss into which he claimed it had fallen in the last 9 years of AIADMK rule, DMK president M.K. Stalin on Saturday vowed to see to it that “those ruling the State from the Fort [St. George] today [are] locked up inside cells once the DMK comes to power”.
He was speaking at a public meeting organised by the DMK to explain the resolutions passed at the party’s general council meeting and also to thank the constituents for the DMK’s resounding victory in the Parliamentary election.
Listing the allegations of scams against the Cabinet led by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, the DMK leader said the first two Ministers who will be arrested for corruption and criminal intimidation alongside Mr. Palaniswami when the DMK comes to power will be S.P. Velumani and P. Thangamani. According to him, they, along with Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar, were the “corrupt pillars” of the Palaniswami government.
The State government had failed to raise its voice against the hydrocarbon project, NEET, the National Education Policy, the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, triple talaq, the imposition of Hindi by stealth, the erosion of State’s rights and many other issues, Mr. Stalin said.
“Usually, raids are conducted by the government. But here, raids are carried out on the government,” he said. Mr. Stalin also hit out at Mr. Palaniswami for his ‘silence’ on an accident involving an AIADMK flagpole in which Rajeshwari, a young woman, lost her leg.
People of all strata had been hit by the “slowdown in money flow” and the BJP-led Centre’s “flawed economic policies”, the DMK leader said, adding, “Today, money flow is only with the Ministers, not with the public.”
The story behind Stalin’s shades
What initially perhaps appeared to be a fleeting image makeover turned out to be an eye infection for DMK president M.K. Stalin, who was seen sporting dark shades, identical with the ones that belonged to his father and late Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.
When he appeared on stage with the dark shades on a wintry Saturday evening, the party cadre were seen cheering as his appearance perhaps reminded them of the late DMK patriarch.
But Dharmapuri MP Senthil Kumar told The Hindu that the DMK chief had an eye infection, and that was the only reason why he was wearing shades.
