The local DMK unit here kicked off the signature campaign against the Citizenship Amendment Act, after the party’s chief M.K. Stalin flagged off the campaign in Chennai early this week.
The signature campaign that is set to galvanize the ongoing opposition to the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, and translate the opposition to the fraught Act into one crore signatures was brought to a start here at the roundana in the town on Wednesday.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) State general secretary K. Balakrishnan visited the signature campaign site at the Five Road Junction near the roundana and affixed his signature before kicking off the campaign alongside DMK MLA and district secretary T. Senguttuvan.
The campaign is being held in all the 10 unions in the district. The cadres are mobilising opinions and securing signatures from the public in the campaign site all through the day.
According to Mr. Balakrishnan, if Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s government claimed responsibility for its so-called achievements, then they should also take responsibility for the scams played out under its watch. “They (scams) run deeper. Without the hand of the Ministers, no junior junior level official or a clerk will have the wherewithal to indulge in a scam of this magnitude,” said the CPI (M) leader. That is why, the CPI (M) has demanded that a CBI investigation monitored by the High Court should be ordered into the scams.
Dubbing last week’s Central budget as a budget only in name, Mr. Balakrishnan alleged the government failed to raise the spending capacity of the rural poor, whilst giving relief to the corporates.
“The allocation for MNREGS was far lower than last year. During the time, the majority of the country’s purchasing capacity plummeted, the prosperity of a few rich grew correspondingly,” said Mr. Balakrishnan.
On the rising incidents of sexual crimes against children, Mr. Balakrishna urged the State government should stop viewing it as a mere law and order issue and instead take a holistic view by holding consultations with all stakeholders. “What does development mean, if we can’t provide safe spaces for the country’s children?”