DMK's PTR, Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai spar over PM Modi’s free travel remark

CHENNAI: A war of words erupted between state IT Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and BJP state president K Annamalai on Friday over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comment on free bus travel to women.

Quoting PM Narendra Modi’s recent interview, the state minister for Information Technology and Digital Services, questioned why has the equity investment in the Chennai metro phase II (new lines) been kept pending by the Union Cabinet for so many years (even as many metros in other cities announced/agreed after it have been funded) thereby slowing the metro expansion considerably.

“They might have pointed out that one cannot travel on metro lines that don’t exist, irrespective of whether the bus is free for women or with a paid ticket,” PTR said in a social media post.

“Is there any place in the world where there is a metro, but not a bus service also (they are complementary, not direct substitutes), some form of concession for travel on public transport (student, aged, monthly pass etc.,) is it offered? The bus service then affects the viability of the metro,” the state Minister questioned.

Responding to it, BJP state president Annamalai flayed the ruling DMK and said the benefit claimed by the DMK government as savings is a cruel joke as the cost of other essentials, such as milk and electricity charges, have skyrocketed.

“DMK is an expert in picking the right pocket and dropping it in the left pocket of the same person as welfare. The welfare and concessions of the DMK government comes at a cost. There is no place in the world where each Minister takes turns belittling a beneficiary as a ‘freeloader’, like in Tamil Nadu under the DMK government,” Annamalai said quoting PTR’s message.

He also posed a few questions to the Minister over the tender for procurement of equipment for smart classrooms for government schools.

“Why was the tender for procurement of equipment for smart classrooms for government schools awarded to Keltron (Kerala state owned Electronic Development Corporation)? Why was ELCOT (TN govt undertaking) not given an opportunity in this Rs 1,000 crore tender, which has part of funding from our Central government’s Samagra Shiksha programme? Would the IT Minister of Tamil Nadu care to explain?” Annamalai questioned, stating that the PTR, who lost his Finance portfolio for exposing monumental corruption in the DMK government speaks about matters that aren’t in his domain. The former IPS officer also said the procurement of electric buses has remained an announcement for the last three years.