Chennai: Political leaders cutting across party lines came on one stage in Chennai Thursday to discuss the MK Stalin-led DMK government's one year in power. The occasion was ABP Nadu's grand event, 'Nadodu Pesu', where they spoke their minds on "What Do People Think About DMK's One Year Governance?". There were eight speakers in all, representing most of the parties and political groups that have a presence in Tamil Nadu.
The speakers included AIADMK MLA Vaigaichelvan, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Party chief Vanni Arasu, Congress leader Lakshmi Ramachandran, Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi general secretary Eswaran, Hindu Makkal Katchi leader Arjun Sampath, former Manonmaniam Sundaranar University V-C Sabapathy Mohan, BJP Youth Development and Sports Cell state president Amar Prasad Reddy and 'Thuglaq' Ramesh, who is considered a Rajinikanth confidant.
The event was moderated by actor Raj Mohan.
Hindu Makkal Katchi founder Arjun Sampath, the first speaker of the event, said: “When former Tamil Nadu chief ministers Jayalalithaa and Edappadi Palaniswami were in governance, the state did not face any power cut. However, immediately after DMK formed the government, the powercut issue began. As a result, BJP TN chief Annamalai rightly said DMK creates power-cut issues in order to earn via power deficit.”
He said the party did not manage the Covid crisis well. “EPS handled COVID-19 first wave effectively. But when the second wave hit the state after TN CM Stalin took over, there were high death rates and it took them a month to curb the spread,” Sampath said.
"The past one year was not a record (sathanai) but pain (vethanai) for the people," he concluded.
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Countering Sampath, Vanni Arasu of the VCK, a DMK ally, said: "Did any government including the Centre give Rs 4,000 as relief for COVID-19? The DMK government provided it. However, in UP, many bodies were burning and there was no oxygen in the land which was governed by UP CM Yogi Adiyanath."
He added: "TN government sent assistance to Sri Lankan refugees to help people tackle the economic crisis. However, BJP has just been imposing anti-migrant policies including CAA."
He said the release of AG Perarivalan, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, is the "first big win of the DMK government as we step into the second year of governance".
The event took place at Clarion Hotel President in Mylapore.
The DMK-led government completed one year in governance on May 7, 2022. On the first anniversary, CM Stalin announced special measures including a free breakfast scheme in government schools for Class 1-5 students, extended the 'CM in your constituency scheme’ to the entire state, and announced modernisation of corporation schools on the Delhi model at a cost of Rs 150 crore.