Velore MP and DMK North District Secretary Kathir Anand met reporters today. Speaking on the occasion, he said, ``The TVK government has thrown election promises to the wind. They are also pasting stickers and changing the schemes brought in under the DMK regime. If all this is questioned, they hurl abuses and have turned the Assembly into a mockery, like a cinema hall.
There is no accountability whatsoever in delivering welfare schemes to the people. If a Chief Minister travels abroad at government expense, he should immediately call a press meet and inform everyone, “Why I am going. For what purpose I am going. Whom I am going to meet there.” That is the norm. But no press meet was held. There was no statement of any kind.
They say the Chief Minister suddenly left. Fine, but what did he do there? No report has been given either. The Chief Minister says, “I’m going to look at industries.” But he did not even take the Industries Minister along with him. How is he going to meet investors without the department minister? So, all this seems like just a “time-pass activity” for the Chief Minister. My view is that the Chief Minister has failed to fulfill his duty as a ruler.
There is a power cut even when Sengottaiyan comes to Vellore and gives an interview. Likewise, when brother Thirumavalavan gives an interview, the power goes out. These are the very things they raise as questions in the Assembly. Thousands of questions were asked in the Legislative Assembly. But the state government has answered only twenty or thirty questions.
There are no answers to the questions. To hide the answers, they have staged a drama and turned the Assembly into a theater. This is the plight democracy is facing today. When the DMK was in power, no farmer ever came out onto the road to protest. It was Kalaignar who gave free electricity to farmers. It is a historic scheme in India.
`I want to be born as a farmer in my next life,’ we heard Chief Minister Vijay say. But farmers are protesting on the road. They are being kept locked up as if they were in jail. This is a government that does not even have the guts to call the farmers, hear their grievances, and provide them with the relief they need.
Thousands of arrows like this can be launched. We are also watching the time. But this government is speaking disrespectfully about the DMK and portraying it in a false light. We will definitely take this justice to the people. One day, this government must answer the questions the people are asking.
Today, the Vellore District Collector distributed welfare schemes at VOC Ground. When the welfare schemes were being distributed, we were there as elected public representatives—MPs, the Mayor, and councillors. None of us were invited at all. “Since the event is being conducted from the Collector’s discretionary fund, don’t invite anyone,” the Collector reportedly said. Even if it is the Collector’s discretionary fund, it is still the people’s tax money. Therefore, the tradition is that welfare schemes should be distributed only in the presence of public representatives. That is political decorum. Even this was not followed by the TVK government,” he said angrily.