DMK protests PDS sugar price hike

The state government raised the price of ration sugar to Rs 25 from Rs 13.50 in the PDS outlets effective November 1, drawing condemnation from Opposition parties. DMK working president and Leader of the Opposition, MK Stalin had not only condemned the hike, but also announced protests across the state on November 6. However, since there was heavy rain at that time, the protests were postponed to November 22.

On Wednesday, DMK MLAs including P K Sekar Babu, M Subramanian, J Anbazhagan and Tha Mo Anbarasan led the protests in areas like Broadway, Triplicane, Saidapet and Kovur. The cadres raised slogans against the government and demanded a roll back of the price. “The protests have evoked a good response from the public across the state and should have gone as a strong message to the ruling government as to how much the price rise has affected everyone,” said a senior functionary.

When asked about Stalin’s participation in the protests, the functionary replied, “He already participated in the protests held on November 6. However, all the district secretaries led the protests successfully.”

A senior police official said, “We deployed police personnel at all the PDS outlets to prevent any untoward incidents. However, there were no any law and order issue during the protests in Chennai.” Around 23,000 cadres participated in the demonstrations across the city and no arrests were made, the official added.

Similarly, the party functionaries held demonstrations in Thriruvallur, Chengapattu and Kancheepuram districts outside PDS outlets.

In a move which is seen as a bid to garner public support for the ensuing local body elections, DMK functionaries and MLAs agitated in front of various ration shops (PDS outlets), on Wednesday, decrying the recent hike in ration sugar price, in Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts.

While Vellore MLA R Karthikeyan agitated in front of a ration shop in Vellore town, Anaicut MLA AP Nandakumar, along with his colleagues, demonstrated at Saduperi. Ranipet MLA Gandhi followed suit at Ranipet town. Tirupatthur MLA Nallathambi demonstrated in front of a ration shop at Tirupattur.

A total of 2,268 ration shops were the focus of attention during the agitation in both the districts.