Stalin's publicity stunts will not fool people: EPS

CHENNAI:Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday criticised Chief Minister MK Stalin, charging him of planning yet another ‘publicity stunt’ by visiting people at their doorsteps to receive petitions, in an attempt to deceive the public.

The AIADMK leader, in a statement, claimed that he learnt that DMK chief and CM Stalin would soon launch a campaign, which was designed for electoral gain ahead of the forthcoming Assembly polls, but asserted that the people were no longer willing to be taken for a ride.

“The people will bring an end to the DMK's publicity-driven government in 2026,” he said.

Unlike the AIADMK government's Amma Thittam and the CM's Special Grievance Redressal Scheme, which aimed to address public grievances, the DMK government had launched similar initiatives under different names, which he claimed had failed to serve their purpose.

Palaniswami listed some of these programmes 'Mudhalvarin Mugavari', 'Makkaludan Mudhalvar', and 'Neengal Nalama' and took a dig at the CM for merely renaming the process of meeting the public and receiving petitions.

"Yet again, he is planning to launch a similar campaign, with the elections fast approaching. It is the government's duty to listen to the people and address their problems. They must not think they can deceive the public simply by giving different names to the same initiative," he said.

Referring to the time when the present CM served as LoP, Palaniswami said he had gone to the people with petition boxes, only to sarcastically remark that he seemed to have ‘lost the keys’ to those boxes after coming to power.

He also criticised the DMK's alliance partners for remaining silent in the name of 'alliance dharma', despite the state government burdening the people with increased taxes and law and order issues.