TIRUCHY: Tamil Nadu Toddy Movement founder C Nallasamy said on Tuesday that Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s roadshows are unnecessary spending in a debt-ridden State, and that the money and manpower spent on such events could instead be diverted to welfare schemes.

Speaking to reporters in Karur, Nallasamy said the State's debt burden stood at Rs 13 lakh crore and questioned the Chief Minister’s practice of travelling to events by chartered flights and changing venues at the last minute. Referring to the recent Pudukkottai roadshow, he said the arrangements and last-minute venue change imposed an additional financial burden on the public without benefiting the Chief Minister.

“The Chief Minister should have inaugurated the projects through video conferencing and the money should have been utilised for welfare schemes,” he said.

Nallasamy appealed to the Union government to ban roadshows by political leaders and actors. He claimed that barricades were erected along the route from Tiruchy to Pudukkottai for the Chief Minister’s visit, costing at least Rs 10 crore in public money, while more than 4,500 police personnel were deployed.

Calling it a waste of public money and manpower, he urged political leaders to avoid such programmes.

Commenting on the gifts distributed to farmers in Tiruchy on Monday by HR&CE Minister S Ramesh, Nallasamy alleged that the initiative was aimed at wooing farmers. He claimed that only a section of farmers who supported the minister were invited, while those fighting for their rights were left out.