DMK hiked power tariff without any concern for people, charges EPS

COIMBATORE: Condemning the ruling DMK, AIADMK interim general secretary ‘Edappadi’ K Palaniswami on Sunday said its government increased power tariff without understanding the difficulties of people who are already hit by the Covid pandemic.

Addressing party cadres in Avinashi near Tirupur, Palaniswami noted how the people had to endure struggles over the last two years due to the pandemic.

“Without realising it, the DMK government has increased the power tariff. Stalin does not have any concern for people, and thinks of only generating income for his family,” he alleged.

Recalling how the AIADMK government had made three-phase electricity free of charge for farmers, Palaniswami said the power supply has turned erratic now, making people wonder when there would be electricity.

“The DMK is only launching the schemes introduced by AIADMK. The Avinashi-Athikadavu scheme, which is going on at a snail’s pace, would have been completed by now if the AIADMK had formed the government. Works for kudimaramathu scheme brought in by the AIADMK to restore water bodies has been stopped,” he said.

Palaniswami alleged that Stalin came to power by misleading people, and has failed to implement any of the poll promises.

“The DMK didn’t give Rs 1,000 financial aid for women heads of family, Rs 100 subsidy for gas cylinders and stopped financial aid for senior citizens. It only blames the central government for everything,” he said.

Later, speaking in Pollachi, Palaniswami slammed the DMK for failing to scrap NEET as promised even 15 months after forming the government. He also blamed the party for deteriorating law and order situation, rampant availability of drugs smuggled through interstate borders, and for its failure to ban online rummy.

People angry at govt, says Sellur Raju

The people of Tamil Nadu, who are already feeling the burden on property tax hike, are angry at the DMK-led government for the increase in power tariff, said AIADMK leader Sellur K Raju in Madurai on Sunday.

Speaking to the media after attending a programme near Pasumalai, he said except the families of Chief Minister MK Stalin and his cabinet colleagues, no other families in the State was happy. He wondered whether increasing the burden on people was the much-touted ‘Dravidian model’.

The power tariff hike has prompted the MSME sector, a key component in Tamil Nadu’s industrial economy, to look at migrating to other states, he claimed, adding that those below poverty line were among the worst hit.

He also blamed the DMK for the State’s poor showing in NEET this year. According to him, aspirants believed DMK’s poll promise of abolishing the national-level exam and did not prepare well, he said.

To a query on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, Raju said while it would mark a significant shift in Rahul’s political journey, it was doubtful if the tour would bring his party any goodwill.