AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam said on Saturday that the one year of the DMK government was full of sufferings for people who got little benefit.
In a seven-page statement, he narrated several electoral promises of the ruling party and said they remained unfulfilled. Getting Tamil Nadu exempted from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), the waiver of educational loans, the restoration of the monthly billing cycle (from bi-monthly) for domestic power consumers, the payment of ₹1,000 a month to every woman head of household, the provision of subsidy of ₹100 for refill of cooking gas cylinders, the release of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the supply of additional one kg of sugar and ‘urad dal’ to ration card-holders, the increase in the old age pension to ₹1,500 and the return to the old pension scheme for the government staff were among the promises which had not been kept.
Accusing the government of seeking to mislead the people, the AIADMK leader said the people were not prepared to be “cheated” any more. The government had failed on the fronts of law and order and electricity and wound up several welfare schemes launched by the AIADMK government. It had taken a year for the government to constitute a committee on the new education policy, and this had created doubts in the minds of the people whether the government was adopting a “soft approach” towards, or “double standards” on, the matter.
Meanwhile, the sidelined former interim general secretary, V.K. Sasikala, told journalists that the DMK regime had not created a “feeling of fulfillment” among people, who were only “frustrated” with the government. She said there were reports of DMK members demanding money every month from small traders and micro, small and medium entrepreneurs.
