Invoking the political legacy of DMK patriarch and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi who “always walked the talk”, DMK youth wing leader and Tamil Nadu Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin said on Sunday that Puducherry would be granted Statehood as promised in the DMK manifesto if the INDIA bloc came to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Mr. Udhayanidhi, who took out a road show and campaigned for Congress candidate and sitting Puducherry MP V.Vaithilingam, assured the crowd at meetings in Villianur, Marappalam and Anna Statue, that as a legatee of the DMK patriarch, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin would also be true to his word and ensure Statehood, which has been a long-standing aspiration of the people of Puducherry.
He also promised to roll back privatisation of the Electricity Department, reopen ration shops and waive off legacy debt and implement assurances to revive State enterprises that had been closed down, to provide employment to youth, offer an insurance scheme similar to the ‘Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme’, reopen the shuttered sugar mill and expedite expansion of the airport.
Mr. Udhayanidhi promised to bring to Puducherry several schemes aimed at women’s education and empowerment that are at the core of the ‘Dravidian model’ of governance, which are being successfully implemented in Tamil Nadu.
Noting that the success of the DMK government’s schemes was inspiring other States, such as Karnataka and Telangana, to study and replicate similar initiatives, the DMK Youth Wing leader said the ‘Dravidian model’ of governance was showing the way for the entire country.
Mr. Udhayanidhi also assailed the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for encroaching on the domain of States as in bringing out the National Education Policy and of turning a blind eye to reports of financial misdeeds within the government while projecting the Opposition as corrupt.
Mr. Udhayanidhi had also brought along to display to the crowd, a sand brick with ‘AIIMS’ painted on it, which he claimed was taken from the site in Madurai, where the foundation stone for a premier hospital laid by the Prime Minister in 2019, remained a non-starter for several years. “I refuse to return it until the hospital project is completed”, he remarked.
In a swipe at BJP candidate and Home Minister A. Namassivayam, who is the opponent of Mr. Vaithilingam, a staunch Congress loyalist for five decades, Mr. Udayanidhi said: “I have heard that he has switched parties five times”, and when someone in the crowd yelled “seven”, he remarked: “I have lost count of the number of parties he has been in and out of”.
Mr. Udhayanidhi exhorted voters to re-elect the Congress candidate with an even more bigger margin in the Lok Sabha election in Puducherry on April 19. If Mr. Vaithilingam won by a record 1.97 lakh margin in 2019, the victory margin should be 3 lakh votes, he said.
