Compensate rain-hit ryots: Palaniswami; slams CM’s criticism

CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday accused Chief Minister MK Stalin of repeatedly targeting him in public speeches instead of addressing what he described as the government’s failures in governance.

Responding to the Chief Minister’s recent remarks, he said Stalin must clarify “who the real betrayer is, the one who secured projects for Tamil Nadu or the one who sabotaged them”.

Referring to reports of an Income Tax visit to the offices of Red Giant, a firm linked to the Chief Minister’s family, Palaniswami alleged that Stalin “rushed to Delhi in panic” to manage the situation. He also criticised the Chief Minister’s stand on hydrocarbon and methane extraction projects in the Cauvery delta, saying the agreements signed during the DMK’s earlier tenure would have “turned the fertile region into a desert”.

Palaniswami said that had the Chief Minister ‘listened to the people instead of indulging in theatrics’, he would have known the AIADMK’s contributions, including the Sarabanga scheme, Thalaivasal cattle park and the Athikadavu–Avinashi project. He reiterated that he had secured approval for Coimbatore Metro and recently urged the Prime Minister to extend Metro connectivity to Madurai as well.

He alleged that when the Union government pointed out deficiencies in the State’s Metro Rail proposals, the Tamil Nadu government failed to rectify and resubmit them, choosing instead to politicise the issue. He added that during the previous DMK regime, he had personally met the Union Home Minister to expedite funding for Chennai Metro Phase II, after which the Centre sanctioned Rs 63,246 crore.

In a separate statement, Palaniswami urged the State government to immediately provide compensation to farmers whose crops were damaged by heavy rain and squally winds over the past week. Extensive losses had been reported across Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Cuddalore, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Theni and Kanniyakumari districts, he said, noting that paddy, banana, sugarcane and betel crops had suffered severe damage as rivers and canals overflowed.