Canvassing for New Justice Party founder A.C. Shanmugam, who is contesting the Vellore Parliamentary poll on an AIADMK ticket, for the second consecutive day, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Sunday said his government was for the people and was following in the footsteps of late party leader Jayalalithaa.
Addressing voters at Kilvaithinankuppam, Katpadi and K.V. Kuppam, he said villagers in these areas were dependent on agricultural income. The government had launched a water management scheme, free distribution of cattle and poultry and 100-day employment for women from farmers’ families to enhance the livelihood of the farming community, he said.
Referring to DMK leader M.K. Stalin’s argument that his party had won more seats (13) than the AIADMK (9) in the April Assembly byelections, Mr. Palaniswami claimed that the DMK had won in those constituencies by making unethical and false assurances. “In contrast, the 9 seats the people gave the AIADMK were for good governance,” he claimed.
“In our party, even a farmer can become a Chief Minister, whereas the DMK is governed by the family members of [late party patriarch] Karunanidhi. The AIADMK’s Muhammathjohn of Arcot and N. Chandrasekaran, who were recently elected to the Upper House, will raise their voice for the minorities and the oppressed classes in the Rajya Sabha,” the CM said.