TN govt blames Centre to cover up its incompetence: BJP's H Raja

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu BJP's interim coordination committee convenor H Raja on Sunday took a dig at the ruling DMK government, saying that " the unwieldy Dravidian Stock government blames the Centre for covering up its incompetence, inefficiency and corruption."

Talking to reporters after meeting Governor RN Ravi at the Raj Bhavan here, Raja claimed that all the schemes in Tamil Nadu are being implemented with funds from the Central government.

Compared to the UPA II and II regimes from 2004 to 2014, four times more funds have been allocated to Tamil Nadu under PM Narendra Modi-led NDA rule, he said.

"During the UPA regime from 2004-2014, TN was allocated Rs 2.3 lakh crore. But from 2014 till now, the PM Modi-led NDA government has allocated Rs 10.66 lakh crore to TN for various projects," the veteran BJP leader said.

Raja also demanded a White Paper from State Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu and Chief Minister MK Stalin regarding the percentage of funds allocated for capital expenditure in the last Budget.

The former MLA also claimed that the Stalin-led state government was not allocating funds for infrastructure development. "All the schemes in TN are being implemented with funds from the Centre. Even the rice and pulses given in ration shops are being provided from the funds of the Central Government. The Centre is providing free ration to 80 crore people across India," he alleged.

Meanwhile, responding to former AIADMK minister D Jayakumar's comment that the BJP is a corporate company and now they have appointed a new MD to run the company in Tamil Nadu, Raja questioned how the AIADMK functions.

"'My friend' Edappadi K Palaniswami is a chairman or MD of AIADMK? I've been working in the party since the very beginning before the former ministers of the AIADMK even entered politics," he quipped.

Elaborating on BJP's membership drive in the state, H Raja said that the party's target was to add 200 new members per booth.

"Steps will be taken to induct one crore people into the TN party unit. The membership drive will start on September 2 and last until October 15. Apart from this, the BJP is also going to focus on putting forward people's issues and holding protests," he elaborated.

Commenting on Chief Minister MK Stalin's ongoing visit to the United States, the saffron party leader said, "Let Stalin explain what happened after his Dubai visit. How many thousands of crores have been invested in Tamil Nadu because of his visit? Has anything happened? Nothing. Today MoUs may be coming but let us see if the actual investments come in," he remarked.

Earlier, H Raja and other interim coordination committee members had called on Governor Ravi at his official residence. Raja later termed the meeting as a 'courtesy' meet.

The party's national leadership on Friday announced a six-member coordination committee to decide on party matters in the absence of BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai who has left for the UK to attend a three-month educational training programme.