After remaining in a ‘silent mode’ for the last four years or so, the Tamil Nadu government had suddenly ‘woken up’ and Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has been going round places to lay foundation stones, said senior Congress leader and MP P. Chidambaram here on Saturday.
Speaking at a party booth-committee workers meeting, he said that the two Dravidian parties - DMK and the AIADMK - had been coming to power in turns. Only last term, the AIADMK under the leadership of Jayalalithaa, retained power for a second consecutive term. After her demise, Mr Palaniswamy suddenly emerged from nowhere. “I had heard about Panneerselvam, Sengottaiyan and even C.Ve. Shanmugam in the Cabinet, but not Mr. Palaniswamy,” he said.
The government, he said, had suddenly become active and the CM has been going around laying foundation stones. “The Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar scheme, for instance, will take eight years. At least, if the AIADMK government had completed it and dedicated the scheme now, it would have been lauded”, Mr Chidambaram added.
The former Union Home Minister said that the TN government had booked cases against a million people for COVID-19 violations. And now, the CM says, the government would withdraw them and he has claimed it as an achievement. “This is nothing but a comedy. For having done such an act, his name may be recommended to the Guinness Book of World Records,” he said.
“The AIADMK has brought in the BJP to Tamil Nadu. This (BJP) is dangerous to the democratic fabric. The BJP should not be given space here in the State, which is considered as a peace park. Many States governed by the BJP are facing problems and minorities feel insecure. The farmers are being ill-treated. The economy has gone for a steep fall due to their lackadaisical attitude. It is all because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. If it were a Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi, such things wouldn't have happened in the country”, he said and appealed to the party workers to ensure the defeat of the AIADMK and BJP combine in the ensuing elections.