Power cut for two hours in my residence: Edappadi K Palaniswami

SALEM:  Continuing his tirade against the DMK government over power cuts, former CM and AIADMK joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami said there was power cut even at his house in Edappadi for two hours on Saturday. 

Speaking to reporters after inaugurating a free tailoring centre for women set up on behalf of the AIADMK at Konganapuram in Salem, EPS said steps would be taken to open such free tailoring centres across the district on behalf of his party. 

“Today (Saturday) morning, there was no power in my house for two hours from 6am to 8am. Such power cuts are happening across the State, affecting farming activities. Weavers in Salem are hit due to these outages. This is happening due to coal shortage. We urge the government to procure adequate coal. During the AIADMK regime, we provided uninterrupted power supply”, Palaniswami said. 

“In its election manifesto, the DMK promised to reduce petrol and diesel prices by Rs 5 and Rs 4 a litre. But, prices were not reduced. When we raised the issue in the Assembly, the CM blamed the Union government. But the Centre has reduced the price and 25 states followed suit in reducing price. But in TN, only `3 was reduced for a litre of petrol. The DMK government must reduce price of diesel to check spike in prices of essential commodities,” EPS said. 

Answering questions related to criticism on appointment of R Elangovan (a confidante of Palaniswami) as Salem rural district AIADMK secretary, Palaniswami said AIADMK is a democratic party. Elangovan served as Salem east district secretary, district Amma Peravai secretary and chairman of State Apex Cooperative Bank while J Jayalalithaa was alive, he said.