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Leader of Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Sunday said the Centre should release pending dues under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to the State government, as many women workers have not received their salaries under the scheme.
Addressing a zonal conference for young party cadres from 10 districts in Vellore, Mr. Palaniswami said, “Do not bother who (DMK) is in power in Tamil Nadu but think about the families that depend on the wages earned from working under the MGNREGA.”
Denying Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s charge that the AIADMK was toeing the line of the BJP on key issues, Mr. Palaniswami said the AIADMK had always been independent in its views on key issues as the party does not depend on its alliance partners to win elections unlike the ruling DMK. He added that the AIADMK’s strength lies with party cadre and the people.
“The AIADMK will form a grand alliance under its leadership for the 2026 Assembly election. The DMK will change its alliance to come to power as the Dravidian party did in 1999, when it was part of the BJP-led government at the Centre. In 2004, the DMK switched its allegiance to the Congress alliance in order to remain in power,” he alleged.
The former Chief Minister lamented the rise in the number of crimes against women and children in Tamil Nadu. He said the Tamil Nadu Police had registered 107 cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act since January. He added that a total of 141 murders had occurred in the State since January 1. “The police have failed to perform their duty and had become informers for the ruling DMK. Mr. Stalin claims that wherever he goes, children call him ‘appa’ (father). What has he (Mr. Stalin) done to prevent rising crime against women and children,” he said.
Mr. Palaniswami also blamed the ruling DMK government for the steady rise in debt burden on the State’s exchequer.
“The DMK has borrowed around ₹3.5 lakh crore since it came to power in 2021. Till then, the overall debt of the State government stood around ₹5.18 lakh crore. Tamil Nadu generates around ₹86,000 crore on its own and also gets around ₹24,000 crore from the Centre. No path-breaking schemes have been launched despite huge borrowings and revenue generation,” he alleged.
