Accusing the AIADMK government of having failed on all fronts, Opposition leader and DMK president M.K. Stalin on Wednesday said the Governor merely read out the “failure papers” prepared by the government during his speech to the Assembly.
Explaining why his party staged a walkout during the Governor’s address, Mr. Stalin told journalists that though the State government had sought ₹15,000 crore as relief in the wake of Cyclone Gaja, the Centre had released merely ₹1,146 crore, 46 days after the cyclone ravaged the State.
“Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami does not have the capacity to get adequate funds from the Centre. The failure of the government to take a policy decision against the Sterlite Copper plant [in Thoothukudi] during its Cabinet meeting has resulted in the National Green Tribunal giving a verdict in favour of the company. It is a failure on the part of Industries Minister M.C. Sampath,” he said.
Six months had passed since the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board, and the Chief Minister was still not able to bring pressure to bear on the Centre to appoint a permanent chairperson to the board, Mr. Stalin said.
“He couldn’t get a stay against the plan to construct a dam at Mekedatu. Karnataka’s decision [to build the dam] will turn Tamil Nadu into a desert,” the DMK leader claimed.
Noting that the transfusion of HIV-infected blood to a pregnant woman at the Sattur Government Hospital had sent shockwaves across the State, he said Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar had failed to ensure the safety of the people.
He said Electricity Minister P. Thangamani had failed to find solutions to the problems of farmers opposed to the laying of high-tension power lines on their lands.
“The Chief Minister is unable to remove the Health Minister from his post even after he appeared before the CBI in connection with the gutkha scam. The Cabinet [during former CM Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation] had actually failed to save their leader, and Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam is now pointing the finger at former Chief Secretary Rama Mohana Rao and Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan,” he pointed out.