TN people will teach a lesson to BJP for denying flood relief funds: KS Alagiri

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K S Alagiri on Saturday slammed the BJP-led Union government for not allotting flood relief funds to the State and said that the people of the State would teach a lesson to the saffron party for its vengeful and biased attitude.

Alleging that the ruling BJP has not even allocated a rupee from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to Tamil Nadu which sought nearly Rs 20,000 crore for the flood relief, repair, restoration, and rehabilitation works, Alagiri said that the people of Tamil Nadu would never forget the arrogant announcement of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that she would neither declare the devastation in Tamil Nadu as a national disaster nor allot funds for the same.

Accusing Sitharaman of evading the criticism of state finance minister Thangam Thennarasu on the issue, Alagiri said that the people of Tamil Nadu would not accept the arrogant statements of the Union Minister and they would teach a fitting lesson to the BJP for its vengeful and biased approach towards the flood affected people of Tamil Nadu.

Referring to the Rs 1,487 crore spent by the state government on the distribution of Rs 6,000 per family flood relief assistance to the people of the flood-hit districts, the TNTCC president cited the Rs 1,000 Pongal gift announced along with the gift hampers and advance credit of Rs 1,000 KMUT honorarium to women beneficiaries this month and said that the Union Finance Minister has justified the biased fund allocation of the BJP regime which generously released funds to the BJP ruled states like UP and Gujarat and showed indifference in releasing funds to opposition ruled states like Tamil Nadu.