Salem: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday, April 17, assured a drug free Tamil Nadu if his party comes to power in the upcoming Assembly elections.
During a poll campaign at Sangagiri here, he said, “Students are addicted to drug abuse and time has come to put an end to it. Once the AIADMK assumes power, the sale of ganja will be completely eradicated. We will transform Tamil Nadu into a drug-free state”.
Reiterating that law and order has deteriorated significantly in Tamil Nadu, he alleged that there is no safety for women and the general public as a whole.
“The situation has become so dire that even a two-year-old child is not spared, they are subjected to sexual violence and murder,” he said, adding, “If women in Tamil Nadu are to be safe, the AIADMK government must be restored to power”.
He further said even the police force, whose duty it is to protect the people, are not safe under the current administration.
“In the last six months alone, six police personnel have been murdered,” he said.
Palaniswami alleged that not a single day passes without incidents of murder, robbery, and sexual violence being perpetrated by drug addicts.
The AIADMK chief said despite announcing 525 electoral promises, the DMK has failed to fulfill even a quarter of them.
He said nearly 2,000 “Amma Mini Clinics” were established across Tamil Nadu to provide medical care to people residing in rural areas. However, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has “shut them down”. Once the AIADMK government is formed, the clinics will be relaunched, he added.
Regarding the NEET examination, Palaniswami said that the DMK has failed to secure an exemption for the state.
“Tamil Nadu Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin had previously claimed that there was a secret strategy in place to achieve this. However, Chief Minister Stalin, speaking in the Assembly, exposed the secret strategy by stating that, given the Supreme Court’s verdict on the matter, it is simply not possible to obtain an exemption from NEET. “This is a government that came to power by propagating false information”, he added.
Stating that the April 23 Assembly election is a contest between a single family, “which survives by exploiting” Tamil Nadu, and the people of Tamil Nadu, Palaniswami said, “We must put an end to those who exploit eight crore people merely to sustain one family”.
At another rally at Veerapandi in Salem district, Palaniswami alleged that the DMK is a party that exists solely for the benefit of a single family and is not a political party, it is a “corporate enterprise”.
“In this company, numerous individuals such as Stalin, Udhayanidhi, Sabareesan, Kanimozhi and Durga Stalin serve as directors. Stalin acts as the chairman. That is the true nature of the DMK,” the AIADMK chief said.
He further said, “If it (DMK) was a genuine political party, it would dedicate itself to providing necessary services to the people. However, being a corporate entity, its sole objective is plunder”.
With regard to the upcoming Assembly polls, Palaniswami said, “This will be Stalin’s final election. He should remain in good health. He should watch our candidates emerge victorious and the AIADMK forming a government”.
With regard to delimitation, he said the number of parliamentary seats currently allocated to Tamil Nadu is set to be increased from 39 to 59. “The current percentage stands at 7.18 per cent, whereas the central government has now announced a figure of 7.23 per cent,” he said, adding “this signifies an increase”.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Neha Khan | 
