Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, on Saturday, February 21, trained his guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling on the people of Tamil Nadu to question him about the blocked schemes for the state during the PM’s next visit.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Madurai in March ahead of the State Assembly polls in April–May. Addressing a gathering of volunteers in Madurai on Saturday, CM Stalin said that the people should question the PM about blocked schemes owed to the state, including the Madurai and Coimbatore Metro rail projects, which were denied permission, and the AIIMS promised to the state.
“When the PM comes to Madurai, you have to ask him why he, who speaks so highly of metros, did not give assent to the Madurai and Coimbatore metro projects. Ask why AIIMS was not given to the state. Ask why reports on Keeladi have not been released. Ask why the government did not withdraw NEET. Ask if it is fair to block education funds to the state over our opposition to the three-language formula,” he said.
He also criticised the Opposition leader, Edappadi Palaniswami, stating that he should have raised all these questions, but that EPS had turned into a traitor incapable of questioning the Union government.
He further said that the DMK and its ministers were facing the highest number of raids from central agencies as a result of their opposition. Recently, the Madras High Court directed the filing of an FIR against the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) Department in connection with a cash-for-jobs scam under the department.
“On the day that we gave Rs 5,000 to beneficiaries under the Magalir Urimai Thogai, there was other news that gained attention. It was reported that long queues were forming in front of banks to withdraw the sum. This happened because people were afraid that the Union government would take away the money if they did not withdraw it immediately. That is the difference between the people’s faith in the Union government and their faith in us. If something is given to the people, it is by the DMK; if something is taken from them, it is the BJP government,” he said.
“In 2024, the people gave us a complete victory in the Lok Sabha elections. Since then, we have completed many schemes. In fact, we have delivered on the promises we made and also many schemes that people did not expect. We have fulfilled all demands,” he said. On Saturday, the BJP released a report card of the DMK government alleging that only around 34 per cent of the schemes promised in the election manifesto had been fulfilled.
He was addressing party cadre in Madurai’s Uthangudi as part of the ‘En Vakkuchavadi–Vetri Vakkuchavadi’ (My Booth–Winning Booth) training programme for booth-level agents, booth-level committees and other functionaries.
He said that the party’s target was to win more than 200 constituencies and secure more than 2.5 crore votes.