CM answerable to public on the status of ‘Ungaludan Stalin’ petitions: EPS

  Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Commercial Taxes Minister P. Moorthy (hailing from Madurai) should answer the people about the status of ‘Ungaludan Stalin,’ petitions which were received from the public on the assurance that they would be resolved in 45 days, said AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami in Madurai on Tuesday.

Addressing people at three locations – Melur, Y.Othakadai and K. Pudur in the district, as part of his ongoing state-wide tour, Mr Palaniswami criticised the DMK government for providing “false promises” to the people that their grievances would be solved in a single petition. 

“Those who believed him [CM] should think of the sorry state of ‘Ungaludan Stalin,’ petitions floating in Vaigai river at Thirupuvanam and hanging in tea shops across the State,” he added.  

Questioning the SIEAA nod for hydrocarbon project at 20 places in Ramanathapuram district, he stated that though Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu had said they were not aware of it and would cancel the project, giant pipes and machines were being carried to the earmarked locations.  

Criticising Mr. Stalin for “deceiving the farmers again and again”, Mr. Palaniswami said it was the same DMK government which brought the hydrocarbon and methane project to the delta region [earlier], and it was the AIADMK government which stopped the project and granted a legal recognition to the area to safeguard the farmers.  

“Though when Mr. Stalin boasts about INDIA bloc wherever he goes, why cannot he negotiate with the Communist government in Kerala to raise the Mullaperiyar dam to 152 feet,” he questioned.

The long-drawn struggle for the issue was ended during the AIADMK government under the leadership of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa through a Supreme Court verdict, yet the DMK government could not come up with an amicable solution, he recalled.  

Mr. Stalin who often travels to foreign countries to ‘attract’ investments, could only actually end up posing for stills in cycle.

“He releases video of him strolling around the places he visits, but can he release what all investments he had brought to the State,” he asked.

Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, the AIADMK government was able to attract investments to the tune of ₹60,000 crore, but the DMK government was only able to expand the industries which have already set up their units in the State, he alleged.  

“Of the three investments from Germany the DMK government claims as its achievement, two were for expansion of existing industries and one investment worth ₹1,000 crore was a common one found in all the States,” Mr. Palaniswami noted.  

Chiding at government for not sticking to their promises, he said, the ‘Magalir Urimai Thogai,’ scheme, though promised by Mr. Stalin during the election, took more than 24 months for implementation. 

Even for the implementation, the government could not generate revenue, he charged.  The crores of rupees that was borrowed for the scheme would soon turn out as a disaster that should be borne by the people in form of taxes, he added.  

What the DMK government had excelled in the past years was deceiving people and milking money from people’s pocket through various ways, he claimed.

“Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration handling the registration is getting 10% for every registration taking place in the State,” he claimed. Further he claimed officials in the 582 registration offices in the State are shuffled every year to loot money in the name of transfer.  

Notwithstanding the “obstacles” thrown at the AIADMK alliance for hindering the success, Mr. Palaniswami said, “as a candidate who had faced 10 elections so far, I challenge the DMK government and Mr. Stalin to stop me from tasting victory in 2026 Assembly elections.”