CHENNAI: BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran on Sunday criticised the ruling DMK government, accusing it of turning the state into a “den of diseases” while falsely projecting it as a model of governance.

In a statement, Nainar Nagenthran said, “It is shameful that the DMK government boasts of a golden era while Tamil Nadu’s cities are rapidly deteriorating. The recent Swachh Survekshan rankings (cleanliness rankings) by the Centre have placed Chennai and Madurai at 38th and 40th, respectively, among 40 cities with over one million population — a shocking reflection of administrative failure.”

He ridiculed the DMK’s claims of spending thousands of crores annually on sanitation. “If not a single city from Tamil Nadu features in the top ten cleanest cities, what happened to the tall claims of the so-called Dravidian model?” he questioned. Slamming the ruling party for neglecting basic civic infrastructure, the BJP leader said the rise in diseases, crumbling government hospitals, and unchecked corruption in urban maintenance reflect gross mismanagement.

“When crimes are soaring and garbage piles up in every corner, where is the governance?” he asked, demanding that the DMK apologise to the people and the nation for its “utter failure.”