TN: CM Stalin hits back at Palaniswami over remark on NITI Aayog meet
EPS claims Stalin attended May 24 meet only to safeguard family funds; CM says AIADMK chief harping on issue as he can’t find fault with DMK government
Chennai, May 27 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin flayed AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday over the NITI Aayog meeting saying Palaniswami was harping on the same issue as he could not find fault with the DMK government.
As Palaniswami did not have anything new to say, he repeated the same accusation, the Chief Minister said responding to the AIADMK leader’s accusation that Stalin, who skipped the Niti Aayog General Council meeting for three years, chose to attend the meeting on May 24 only to safeguard the funds of his family.
“He (Palaniswami) has nothing to find fault with my government, so he is harping on the same thing. I don't want to lower my standards by answering him,” Stalin told reporters at Kolathur here when his attention was drawn to Palaniswami’s latest remark on Monday.
Addressing a rally after hoisting a 126-feet high AIADMK flag at Chinnasalem in Kallakurichi district on May 26, the former Chief Minister questioned Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s intention to attend the Niti Aayog General Council meeting. He wondered if Stalin’s New Delhi visit was really meant to obtain funds for the state or to safeguard the funds of his family members.
“Edappadi Palaniswami is dwelling on the same issue about my Delhi trip. I had already replied that I did not go (to the national capital) with a white flag or wave a saffron flag that Palaniswami has,” Stalin, who is president of DMK, said.
He could list out numerous serious lapses on the part of the previous AIADMK government starting from the Sathankulam custodial death, but this would only take time, the Chief Minister, on a visit to his home constituency Kolathur, said.
Stalin laid the foundation stone for the construction of three senior citizens' homes at an estimated cost of Rs 22.61 crore, on behalf of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, and inaugurated the General Kumaramangalam Pond and Park renovated at a cost of Rs 4.36 crore, and the Thanikachalam Nagar Canal that was renovated for Rs 91.36 crore.
He gave away prizes to students from Kolathur area for scoring high marks in the Class 10 and 12 public examinations, distributed two-wheelers to 150 differently-abled persons, sewing machines and laptops to beneficiaries at an event organised by the Anitha Achievers Academy. PTI