Stalin's Gram Sabha meet a camouflage to blame TN Govt: CM

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Wednesday accused DMK president M K Stalin of holding the people's Gram Sabha meeting as a camouflage to blame the AIADMK government and to deceive the people.

Launching a broadside at the DMK chief, Palaniswami questioned the futility of conducting it and said such an effort would have legal sanctity only if they were convened by the government and asked the people not to be misled by the DMK leader's meetings.

He said nothing beneficial would emerge from them. Palaniswami, on a two-day election campaign in this district, sought to know if Stalin's meetings were really worth it.

''He (Stalin) is conducting Makkal Gram Sabha (people's gram sabha) only to blame the government and to mislead the people,'' the chief minister said addressing a meeting at Bhavani in Erode.

"He had held similar meetings during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and received petitions from the people. What is the current status of those petitions. To whom did he submit those petitions or did he take any steps to resolve their grievances?'' Palaniswami asked.

Only the duly elected government could redress the grievances of the people and not the opposition party, he said.

On Stalin's recent announcement that he would submit the second list of corruption charges against ministers to the state Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Palaniswami said the DMK president had earlier submitted a petition to Purohit, levelling baseless corruption charges with regard to projects for which tenders are yet to be floated.

''How can he say corruption took place when the work is yet to start,'' the chief minister wondered. Palaniswami said the e-tendering system is followed by all departments offering the opportunity to everyone to apply from anywhere in the world.

But this was not the case during the previous DMK regime where applications were given only to persons whom they wanted, the chief minister alleged. The DMK submitted a complaint last month to the Governor, alleging corruption charges against ministers including the chief minister.

With a number of cases pending against senior DMK leaders, Palaniswami sarcastically remarked many of them would not be able to contest the elections if the court expedited the cases. Assembly elections in the state are likely to be held in April-May this year.

At Anthiyur later, Palaniswami said he was ready to face any inquiry over the corruption charges levelled by Stalin. He said he was ready for a one-to-one meeting with the DMK leader in a public place where he would respond to Stalin's charges.

He said the DMK chief was attacking him and his cabinet colleagues with such charges 'unable' to bear the good work of the AIADMK government. The chief minister also provided a detailed list of welfare schemes being implemented by his government.