TN CM Stalin’s challenge to Modi: ‘Which project did he bring and we scuttled?’

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent claim that the state government had “stalled” several central government schemes, has asked the latter to list out all such projects.

Stalin was speaking at a government event in Pollachi on Wednesday (March 13) when he made the remark. He in turn alleged that while the prime minister has advertised in newspapers and television channels about “Modi’s Guarantee”, he has actually done nothing for the people.

He also questioned what happened to Modi’s “old guarantees” of depositing Rs 15 lakh in every citizen’s bank account and creating two crore jobs a year.

“Ask him about schemes”

The government function marked the distribution of welfare assistance to beneficiaries, laying of the foundation stone for new projects, and inauguration of new schemes.

“The people of Tamil Nadu must ask him about the special schemes he has brought to the state. Everyone must ask the prime minister to provide an answer. Will you all ask him?” Stalin asked, addressing the people gathered at the event.

Modi should also specify the central projects that were stalled by the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, Stalin said in response to Modi’s charge during his visit to Tamil Nadu on February 28.

PM Modi alleged the DMK regime “does not work” to cooperate in the implementation of central schemes, but only takes false credit and affixes its stickers on central schemes.

The prime minister is set to visit Tamil Nadu once again in the coming days.

“Modi’s lie”

Stalin said the allegation is “nothing but a lie. It is Modi’s lie”.

He remarked, “What project did he [Modi] bring? Which project did we scuttle? Will he spell out for which project we have been a hurdle?”

The chief minister said he would give just one example to disprove the prime minister’s allegations. The AIIMS project for Tamil Nadu was announced in the Union budget of 2015-16, but its construction in Madurai has begun only recently.

“Who opposed AIIMS project?”

Posing a rhetorical question, Stalin asked who stopped the project from being fulfilled — was it J Jayalalithaa, O Panneerselvam, or Edappadi K Palaniswami, who were chief ministers during the previous AIADMK regime (2011-2021)?

“No, they did not prevent the scheme from being implemented,” he continued. “Also, neither did the DMK, which assumed power in May 2021, scuttle the AIIMS project, nor did the people. “Nobody prevented you (from fulfilling it),” Stalin said, directing his comment at the prime minister.

Stalin wondered aloud if people were so credulous as to believe Modi who is “lying for the sake of the Lok Sabha polls”.

“Lies and WhatsApp stories are the heartbeat of the BJP,” Stalin mocked, adding that people “would not buy such lies”.

Stalin attacks AIADMK

Blaming the AIADMK for “ruining” the state, and the BJP for “not paying attention” to it, the chief minister said the people see the “illicit alliance” between the two parties. He sought the people’s support to trounce the “fascist” parties.

Announcing new schemes and development projects for the districts of Coimbatore, Erode, Tiruppur and Nilgiris, Stalin claimed that the DMK government works for the welfare of all sections of people. “For 10 years, AIADMK ruled Tamil Nadu. Can they list out such schemes that they implemented?” he asked.

Mocking the AIADMK for claiming that the western region of the state remained their bastion, he wanted to know if the opposition party had done any good for the people of the region.

Stalin hit out at the previous AIADMK dispensation for the infamous Pollachi sexual assault case which was investigated by the CBI and is now pending in court. He also brought up the Kodanadu heist and murder case.

The two sides

Referring to the police firing during the 2018 protests against the now-defunct Sterlite plant in Thoothukudi, he said the AIADMK-BJP alliance “prevented” the police from filing a chargesheet in the gutkha scam. The same parties were now “enacting a drama” as if they have severed ties, he remarked.

“On the one side, there is the secretive alliance between the AIADMK and the BJP, which is against the welfare of Tamil Nadu and the Tamil people. On the other hand, the people of Tamil Nadu, the democratic forces, and the DMK stand united to protect the rights of Tamils and to make Tamil Nadu prosperous,” Stalin said.

He claimed that when the DMK regime has been able give the people so many welfare and development schemes despite non-cooperation from the Centre, his government would have had “10 times more” achievements had there been a Union government that supported the state government.

The time is approaching to usher in a government at the Centre that would stand shoulder to shoulder with states, he asserted.

(With agency inputs)