As DMK leader Stalin reaches the fag-end of his road trip, the DMK has hit the ground running on pre-poll preparations. The Manifesto committee, comprising of leaders like Kanimozhi, TKS Elangovan and TR Baalu, is meeting regularly to finalise the list of poll promises. Amidst this, we caught up with DMK’s chief spokesperson TKS Elangovan. Faced with the might of the Jayalalithaas government, and still being weighed down by corruption allegations of the past, the DMK faces a tough battle in the 2016 Assembly Polls. Elangovan speaks to us about freebies, the 2g scam and what difference Stalin has made to the party.
DMK has announced names for district in-charges. But there is some criticism that many of them are old names, how will this rejuvenate the party?
We have named 29 district in-charges but it is not to rejuvenate the party. The AIADMK has been violating the electoral process by removing names of party candidates by saying that the people have joined some other party or by stating that they are dead. We want people who are experienced to trace such violations. These people are made in-charge of elections in the districts. There are district secretaries who take care of all the districts where they can go and solve the issues, rest of the districts are taken care by the district-in-charges.
How much of a difference has Stalin’s campaign made to the party?
It has definitely made a difference. He has met around three lakh people. Most of the people he met are people who have some issues to redress. It shows that people still have faith in DMK.
DMK is holding meetings to develop its manifesto and it has been said DMK won’t focus on freebies. What kind of model are you looking at?
We have not stated that we won’t include freebies. We have just said that freebies are not our priority. But now our main area is addressing issues faced by public. This government has not done anything for the famers. Agriculture department is a total failure in the state. The government should give priority to weavers in Tamil Nadu. We will provide more employment and industries. There are no more infrastructure schemes. Practically, there is no governance in the state.
In hindsight, was the freebie culture that DMK brought in right for Tamil Nadu?
Yes, it was. Freebies will be provided when we come into power this time. We won’t stop whatever was given by the previous government. The good schemes introduced by the current Government will be continued during our governance.
No major controversies are there against Jayalalithaa, how confident is the DMK since anti-incumbency seems absent?
No water, no electricity, no employment are all controversies. Controversy on the surface is different. Today, the fishermen’s wives are weeping that that their husbands have been arrested. But the government did not do anything. Every section of the society is suffering.
Two verdicts slated to arrive- Jayalalithaa’s DA case and 2G scam. As much as a negative ruling will affect AIADMK, is that not the same for DMK?
In Jayalalithaa assets case, the lower court had punished her. The Bangalore court ruling was ridiculed by people. The charge was for about Rs 63 crore. The judge wrongly calculated it to Rs. 3 crore. And how can the Chief Minister be allowed to acquire even Rs 3 crore? It was a paid judgement.
In the 2G case, CBI has not proven anything till now. They could not find the loss amount which was greatly misrepresented by the media. There is no corruption involved in the case. The Government has incurred losses. The calculation itself is wrong. The telecom ministry has no power to fix the rate. So, no one can blame the minister for the rates and the first cum first serve basis policy. The charges made are false. They haven’t proved any corrupt activity. No evidence was kept before the trial court. On the contrary, Jayalalithaa’s case has been proven in the court. So, we are not worried about the outcome of the 2G case.