Why was tender awarded to Kerala's Keltron instead of Elcot, Annamalai asks Tamil Nadu CM Stalin

CHENNAI: BJP state president K Annamalai on Friday demanded a clarification from the Chief Minister MK Stalin over the background behind awarding the Rs 1,000 crore tender to the Kerala-owned Keltron instead of Tamil Nadu's ELCOT.

Hitting out chief minister MK Stalin, Annamalai said Stalin, who has not implemented any development schemes, has not fully fulfilled his election promises and is running the government on just advertisements, has once again been exposed for trying to paste a sticker on the Union government's plans.

Slamming Stalin for his claims over the development of the School Education department, the saffron party leader said, "Everything that Stalin is trying to show as DMK's achievements has been done under the Samagra Shiksha with Union Government's funds."

"The DMK's only achievement in school education was that it did not provide funds to private schools under the Right To Education Act for two years for KG classes. If the truth is like this, it is ridiculous to try to present these as DMK's achievements without the least bit of embarrassment, " Annamalai said in a social media post, alluding to chief minister MK Stalin's post on 'achievements in school education department in last three years'.

"Under Samagra Shiksha, the Central government has given Rs 5,858.32 crore for the improvement of school education in the last three years, " he noted.

"Will the chief minister Stalin clarify the background behind awarding the Rs 1,000 crore tender for the Smart Classroom project under Samagra Shiksha to the Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (KELTRON) instead of the TN government owned ELCOT?" he questioned.