BJP undermining DMK govt’s achievements, says Minister Senthilbalaji

CHENNAI: In a forceful retort during the debate on the State Budget 2025-26 in the Assembly, Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise, V Senthilbalaji accused the opposition BJP of undermining the accomplishments of the DMK government.

He claimed that the BJP, unable to tolerate the success of the DMK regime, had resorted to conducting raids at locations unrelated to the TASMAC (Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation) administration and then hastily issued a press release in an apparent attempt to discredit the ruling party.

The controversy erupted when BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan raised several issues in the Assembly.

She pointed out that, despite her previous calls for a separate budget for women, no concrete steps had been taken to implement this proposal.

She also highlighted the alarming statistic that 20 per cent of children studying in urban government schools were suffering from anaemia.

In response, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian assured the Assembly that efforts were being made to address the anaemia issue, including the distribution of preventive tablets to affected children.

Vanathi Srinivasan then turned her attention to the state's liquor policy, claiming that the DMK government was gradually reducing the number of TASMAC liquor shops while simultaneously opening new types of liquor outlets.

Refuting the claims, Minister Senthilbalaji accused the BJP of trying to create discord and deflect attention from the ongoing budget discussion.

"The opposition is unable to tolerate the achievements of the DMK government. They have searched with a magnifying glass for something to criticize but have found nothing. In their desperation, they conducted a raid in a place completely unrelated to the TASMAC administration. Following this, they issued a hastily prepared press release, all aimed at diverting the public's focus from the budget discussions, " he said.

Senthilbalaji further questioned the legitimacy of the raids, asking, "On what basis was the raid conducted? In which year was the First Information Report (FIR) registered? Despite repeated inquiries, no answers were provided."

He accused the opposition of using the raids as a diversionary tactic to prevent the DMK's achievements from reaching the public.

He also emphasised that the opposition's attempts to undermine the DMK government would not succeed.

"Their calculations to prevent the people from recognizing the successes of the DMK government will never come to fruition. It is merely a product of their own mental calculations. There is no promise regarding closure of TASMAC outlets in the DMK election manifesto. Despite this, we have closed 603 TASMAC retail outlets. Yet, the opposition continues to level baseless accusations, " added Senthilbalaji.