The AIADMK on Friday, termed as routine, the meeting between its general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami and BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in New Delhi, on Thursday, September 14, 2023.
“When the Lok Sabha election is due in eight to nine months, it is a long-standing practice for the leader of one party to call on the leader of an ally. This is how the meeting should be seen,” the party’s organisation secretary and former Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar said, adding that the BJP was part of the AIADMK-led front in T.N.
Asked whether the issue of seat-sharing came up during the meeting, Mr. Jayakumar replied this would be discussed only by committees set up by their respective parties for this purpose when the election was approaching.
Mr. Jayakumar also said he did not see any link between the searches of the Enforcement Directorate at sites of river sand mining in Tamil Nadu over the last few days and the New Delhi meeting.
Price rise
Giving his reaction to the launch of the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam, Mr. Jayakumar said the amount [₹1,000] would be a “pittance” after the present DMK government had steeply increased the power tariff, property tax rate, prices of dairy products and registration fees. He also found fault with the government for rejecting about 56 lakh applications. “At least, all the applicants could have been selected,” he said.
The AIADMK leader also criticised the State government for not paying attention to the prevalence of dengue, and the state of affairs concerning the infrastructure of primary health centres and the stock position of drugs in government hospitals. Besides, the ruling party had not waived educational loans and restored the old pension scheme, both of which were promised by it at the time of the 2021 Assembly election, Mr. Jayakumar said, adding that the jewel loan waiver scheme, as implemented by the government, had only covered 10% of the original loanees.
In a statement, Mr. Palaniswami, who paid homage to former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai at the statue of the departed leader on Anna Salai in Chennai, condemned the recent hike of the prices of ghee and butter being marketed by Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation, Aavin. He observed that the latest increase had come into force just two months before the Deepavali festival.
