Hold talks with govt staff, says KS Alagiri

Seeking to know why Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had refused to meet the members, who are demanding the charges filed against them be dropped, Alagiri said: “Why does the CM refuse to meet protesters in a democratic country? How can he refuse to meet them in a democracy? They had met ministers Jayakumar and Sengottaiyan and petitioned them.”

“Instead of obliging them, vindictive efforts are being made to punish the protesters. There could not be a worse form of oppression than this,” Alagiri said in a statement.

He also claimed that over 2,000 teachers have been transferred and notices have been sent to a lakh staff for participating in the strike.

Stating that people have the right to staged protests in a democratic country, the TNCC chief warned the incumbent regime of facing a worse lesson than the one government employees had taught the late CM, J Jayalalithaa, in the past.

Alagiri urged the ruling AIADMK to give up its vindictive approach and instead hold talks with the JACTTO-GEO representatives.

Meanwhile, the newly-appointed TNCC chief met DMK president M K Stalin in the city. Alagiri had replaced S Tirunavukkarasar.