Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M.K.Stalin has said the Centre is dividing States and the State government is dividing districts.
Speaking at Tharamangalam after unvieling former Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi’s statue, he said, “We are not against bifurcation of districts but it must be done according to the wishes of the people.”
Talking about the relief work following the recent floods in Nilgiris, Mr. Stalin said, “I visited Nilgiris realising my responsibility as Opposition leader, and announced a relief package of ₹10 crore, utilising the constituency development funds of MPs and MLAs. But Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami says I went there for publicity. Do I still need publicity?” he asked.
Challenging Mr. Palaniswami, Mr. Stalin said, “Let us both visit a village without any guards and let’s see whom the villagers identify.”
Talking about the recent victory of the party in the Vellore Parliamentary election, Mr. Stalin said the AIADMK and many sections of the media weren’t yet ready to accept the DMK’s victory. “If we are to go by majority, then at least 20 MLAs of the ruling party, including Ministers, won by a margin of less than 4,000 votes”, he said. He added that there were many who question what he has done during the past one year as DMK president and his reply was that the majority of the AIADMK in the House was reduced by 10 seats. “In 2016, when Jayalalithaa came to power, the AIADMK won 133 seats. In 2019, their majority has been reduced to 123 seats, while the DMK has increased its representatives from 89 to 100.”