Chennai, 4 October (H.S.) : AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS), during his Awakening Journey campaign rally in Palacode, launched a sharp attack on Chief Minister M K Stalin and the ruling DMK on issues ranging from the Katchatheevu island to law and order.
Palaniswami strongly asserted that Stalin has no qualifications to discuss Katchatheevu, pointing out that the island was surrendered to Sri Lanka when the DMK was in power in Tamil Nadu and the Congress was ruling at the Centre.
He accused Stalin of raising the issue now only with an eye on next year's elections and the fishermen's votes, contrasting this opportunistic approach with the consistent efforts of the AIADMK, which included former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa filing a case in the Supreme Court to retrieve the island.
Palaniswami also accused the DMK government of neglecting the downtrodden and prioritizing political gain. He questioned the Chief Minister's selective compassion, asking why Stalin rushed overnight to pay condolences for the 41 lives lost in the recent Karur tragedy but ignored the 68 poor Dalit lives lost in the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy during the DMK rule.
EPS criticised the DMK for seeing political gain in everything and allowing law and order to collapse, citing incidents of police misconduct and rampant drug sales allegedly supported by DMK members. He further attacked the INDIA alliance, calling it a contradiction and accusing the DMK of prioritizing power over genuine policy due to their history of forming opportunistic alliances.
In his address, Palaniswami urged for greater protection for all citizens, stating, Rulers must protect the people. They must realise that people are people, without dividing them by party lines, and at least now the government must provide full protection. He promised that if the AIADMK returns to power, they would restart welfare schemes, such as free rations, cash support, and student laptops, which he alleged were scrapped by the DMK government.
He concluded his speech by appealing to the public to support the AIADMK alliance to save the state, declaring, Let's protect the people, let's save Tamil Nadu. Bye-bye Stalin.
---------------
Hindusthan Samachar / Dr. R. B. Chaudhary
