In a sharp attack on the AIADMK over the issue of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday accused the party of “surrendering before” Prime Minister Narendra Modi and of being the “palanquin bearers” of the Union government.
He virtually addressed the campaign for candidates of the DMK and its allies in the urban local bodies elections in Tiruppur district. When the AIADMK was in power, it had said in its manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha election that the State government would seek exemption from NEET till the “quality of the State Board textbooks is improved,” Mr. Stalin claimed. However, the AIADMK did not oppose the entrance examination in its manifesto for the 2021 Assembly election and instead promised establishment of NEET training centres, he said.
Accusing the BJP-led Union government of endangering the principle of federalism, he said the DMK would strive to spread the slogan of State autonomy across India. “The DMK has been functioning as a movement that strives for the Indian subcontinent while having its feet firmly grounded in Tamil Nadu,” Mr. Stalin said.
The troubles of Tiruppur are “proof of the wrong economic policies” of the Union government, and the exporters here have not been able to meet their targets, Mr. Stalin said. The industries have “not yet recovered” from the impact of demonetisation, and the implementation of the GST has led to the decline in Tiruppur’s commerce, he alleged.
Noting the presence of a large number of micro, small and medium enterprises in Tiruppur, he said the DMK government had released ₹168 crore from the ₹280 crore allotted for these units. “We have removed the 1% market committee cess on cotton. As a consequence, the Cotton Corporation of India has come forward to establish cotton warehouses at Salem, Madurai, Coimbatore and Virudhunagar.”