The Chief Minister, who was addressing an election rally with BJP national president Amit Shah in support of alliance candidate Tamilisai Soundararajan (BJP) for Thoothukudi LS segment on Tuesday, said it was the DMK which allotted 243 acres for expansion of Sterlite Copper in Thoothukudi.

“When MK Stalin was industries minister, he informed the Assembly on May 3 in 2010 that Sterlite took up its expansion project at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore. After favouring the copper smelter unit by extending all support and permission for the expansion, it was unjust to blame the AIADMK on the issue,” he said.

Palaniswami, who also campaigned for AIADMK nominee P Chinnappan for Vilathikulam Assembly bypolls, He said that the DMK, which favoured the Sterlite, was exposed as the Madras High Court after hearing a public interest litigation petition ordered to close down the plant on September 28 in 2010.

 

Had the DMK taken concrete step to close down the plant at that time itself, the subsequent problems would not have occurred causing serious problems to the people. However, the Sterlite moved the Supreme Court on October 1, 2010, challenging the closure order and got a judgment in its favour and also resumed production,” he recalled.

“To woo voters, the DMK is now carrying out a false propaganda, but the people will not believe it since they knew that Sterlite has been closed down by the AIADMK,” the Chief Minister said.

If any party that existed to prevent government from benefitting the poor, he said it was none other than the DMK, which moved court with an intent to stop the disbursal of Rs 1,000 as Pongal gift to every family cardholder, but the court did not object and the government provided the assistance to all.

 

Further, the DMK also moved the Election Commission and prevented the government from providing a special assistance of Rs 2,000 to each below poverty family. But, the disbursal of assistance to beneficiaries would resume after the elections, Palaniswami said. 

 

The Chief Minister made a mention of the construction of memorial for Dr B Sivanthi Aditanar, former Director of Daily Thanthi Group, at Veerapandiyapattinam near Tiruchendur at an estimated cost of Rs 1.25 crore as one of the development projects initiated by his government.

While campaigning for Nainar Nagendran, the candidate for BJP, contesting from Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituency, at Sayalkudi, the Chief Minister said over the last two years, the DMK president organised around 35,000 protests demanding state government to resign from office. 

He further said that only when state and Central governments maintained cordial relations, benefits would reach the people. To cater to needs of farmers, he said storage facility would be established at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore. Palaniswami also said that efforts would be taken to introduce train facility from Karaikudi to Thoothukudi en route Keelakarai and Sayalkudi.

BJP national president Amit Shah, campaigning for the party candidates in the state on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will follow in the footsteps of former chief ministers MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa in delivering welfare schemes for the poor if he was given a mandate for a second term.

Campaigning for party’s Thoothukudi LS candidate Tamilisai Soundararajan, Shah lambasted Kanimozhi, A Raja and Karti Chidambaram saying that the candidates nominated by Congress and DMK were all tainted by graft.

 

“When the BJP-led government returns to power” at the Centre it would continue contributing even more for the growth of Tamil Nadu he said. Extolling the services of the AIADMK stalwarts – MGR and Jaya, Shah said they worked hard and implemented several welfare schemes for the poor.

 

Though the BJP won only one seat from Tamil Nadu in 2014 general elections, the Modi-led NDA government honoured the state by offering two ministerial portfolios to Tamils - Pon Radhakrishnan and Nirmala Sitharaman.

 

Referring to a recent pre-poll survey which projected massive victory for the AIADMK-BJP combine in 30 out of 39 seats in TN, Shah said the ‘mega alliance,’ would not only achieve victory in the Lok Sabha elections, but also in the Assembly elections.  

Under the 14thFinance Commission, the fund allocation to Tamil Nadu was more than its previous term during the UPA-led government, he added.

 

Listing out achievements of the BJP at the national level, he said the Centre exempted GST for businesses with turnover of Rs 40 lakh, income tax exemption under ceiling of Rs 5 lakh and infrastructure development projects for Tamil Nadu including AIIMS Hospital in Madurai, National Highway, railway, PMAY Housing scheme, Defence Corridor, AMRUT scheme, Sagarmala scheme and seaport project at Enayam.

He also hit out at National Conference leader Omar Abdullah for his “Prime Minister for Jammu and Kashmir” line and asked the people whether they supported the Kashmir leader’s remarks. “Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and we will never compromise on the Kashmir issue,” he said.

On the Pulwama attack, he said the BJP government avenged it through air strikes on Balakot terror camps in Pakistan. Citing the air strike, he asked: “Should we not avenge the Pulwama attacks? “ to which the people at the rally responded positively.

Later, addressing a rally at Sivaganga, where his party nominee H Raja is pitted against Congress leader P Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram, he appealed to the people to strengthen the hands of Narendra Modi by electing Raja.