Jayakumar pooh-poohs PMK charges

Taking exception to the remarks, the Minister observed that the PMK leader’s standard of living increased substantially after his party was offered a Union Cabinet berth on the insistence of former chief minister Jayalalithaa. “What was Ramadoss before meeting Jaya?” he asked and added, “It is out in the open for the public to read how the assets of Ramadoss grew at an exponential rate after his son and party members joined the Union government through Jayalalithaa.” 

Defending the state finance, the Minister said, “Despite financial hurdles, the government has been delivering on the poll promises made by Jayalalithaa. We continue to strive to realise all the promises. A total of Rs 77,000 crore worth social welfare schemes have been provided by this welfare state led by CM Edappadi K Palaniswami in deference to the wishes of Jayalalithaa. I don’t know how and where bankruptcy have cropped up.” 

Blaming the Income Tax raids on Poes Garden squarely on deposed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala, Jayakumar termed her and her family members as ‘wily foxes’ taking abode in the Lioness’s den.

“It is their sheer presence that had led to such an uncanny incident unfold at Veda Nilayam,” he said and called the Poes Garden house as a sacred temple for all the 1.5 crore cadre of the AIADMK. 

He maintained that nobody can destroy the AIADMK, which is rooted in the ideology of Anna, MGR and Jaya. He added that they were least bothered about the opinion of ‘others,’ and their ideas.

Asked about the possibility of setting up the Colachel port, the Minister said that they had a series of meetings with the bureaucrats and Ministers from the Union government. 

“For any project to succeed, you need to take all the stakeholders into confidence. The state would help set up any project with the mutual consensus of the stakeholders. Similarly, the district administration and Centre are working to arrive at a consensus,” Jayakumar said.