Stalin warns of protests if govt fails to restore PDS supply

Stalin, who visited a PDS shop on Sannadhi Street in his Kolathur constituency, interacted with the salesmen and people there.  He said that inquiries with salesmen, area residents and scrutiny of records in the shop revealed that products were on short supply. He said that palm oil and cereals, which has not been distributed for over three months, had been delivered to the shop only in January. Explaining the reason behind his surprise visit to the shops in his constituency, the Leader of Opposition blamed the Co-operatives Minister Sellur K Raju and Food Supplies Minister Kamaraj for accusing him of merely politicising the issue. “The scenario in my Assembly seat is the same across the state regarding the supply of products to PDS outlets. Let the Ministers concentrate on restoring the supply to the PDS instead of accusing me,” he said. 

He asked his party MLAs to visit the PDS outlets in their respective constituencies and submit a report to him. He also warned that DMK would conduct agitations in front of the PDS outlets all over the state if the government fails to act and resolve the issue in a week’s time. On a query about Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan’s claim that the DMK has been getting obliterated in the state, Stalin responded “The Minister is a respected person in the state and his statements stem from the frustration arising out of their inability to gain a foothold for the party here.” Remarking that the Minister has been dragging DMK’s name just to garner media attention, Stalin added “Those parties who attempted to decimate DMK have been orphaned in Tamil Nadu politics.”