Chennai, Jan 2 () The opposition AIADMK, which is heading the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu, has settled the issues with the state BJP and has commenced focusing to highlight the flaws of the ruling DMK government.
The BJP and AIADMK were in a war of words in the state after the AIADMK leader and former minister, CVe Shanmughan in a public programme has said in a public programme that the DMK would forgo all its present allies and enter into a political alliance with the BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections.
This evoked a sharp response from the Tamil Nadu BJP and many leaders took to social media handles against this statement from the AIADMK leader. However, in another public programme, AIADMK interim general secretary and former Chief Minister, Edappadi K. Palaniswami said that the AIADMK and BJP alliance was intact and that there should not be any public opinion from the AIADMK leaders or cadres against the BJP.
The BJP also directed its leaders and cadres not to attack the AIADMK leaders in public or through social media platforms.
With the 2024 Lok Sabha polls approaching, the AIADMK has now commenced focusing on the flaws of the DMK government in the state and the failure to keep its promises.
AIADMK leader and former minister Sellur K. Raju in a public programme on Sunday said that if the DMK government of Stalin had kept its promise, the women in the state would have been richer by Rs 22,000. He was rebuking the promise made by the DMK before the 2021 Assembly elections that if the party was elected to power it would provide Rs 1,000 per month to women voters. The DMK came to power in May 2021 and if the promise was kept each woman would have gotten Rs 22,000 taking into consideration Rs 1,000 per month for the past 22 months.
The former minister also said that except for the Rs 1,000 as Pongal gifts, the DMK government has not been able to provide anything to the people of the state. AIADMK also is highlighting the fact that even sugarcane was included in the Pongal gift hamper after the party had taken a strong stand for the sugarcane farmers.
The AIADMK interim general secretary, Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) said that the DMK government was bent on destroying the Pongal gift scheme envisaged and executed by the legend of Tamil Nadu politics, former Chief Minister, M.G. Ramachandran (MGR).
The AIADMK leader has also demanded Rs 5,000 as the Pongal gift amount and said that when the DMK was in opposition, it had promised that the Pongal gift money would be enhanced to Rs 5,000 if the party gets power.
According to sources in the AIADMK, the party would be highlighting the issues of the flaws of the DMK government, including unkept promises across the state. The party is also planning a door-to-door campaign against the DMK government as part of its preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
aal/dpb