Palaniswami slams TVK regime for claiming to be corruption-free

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday questioned the claim of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led government about providing a corruption-free regime.

Addressing electors at Achirapakkam in Madurantakam Constituency, where a bypoll is scheduled to be held on October 6, Mr. Palaniswami alleged that ₹70 per bag of paddy was being collected at direct purchase centres.

Referring to searches conducted by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) at many government offices in the last five months, he contended that the DVAC itself had gone on record, saying that unaccounted for money to the tune of ₹1.7 crore had been seized. Given this backdrop, he asked whether the current dispensation was a “clean regime”.

While gross collections of GST rose in September at the national level, Tamil Nadu had recorded a decline in collections. “How is the government going to correct the situation? Already, the loans outstanding have reached ₹ 10 lakh crore. As the revenue collections have gone down, the burden of loans will go up, for which taxes will have to be levied on people,” he said.

Mr. Palaniswami asked the people whether “such an incompetent government” should remain in office.